If all you need is a VPN for your web browser, Proton’s free option has you covered.
Once available only to paying customers, Proton VPN now lets anyone with a user account turn on the VPN in their browser at no cost. This announcement, shared in an email to Lifewire, follows the recent anti-censorship updates rolled out to Android and Windows users.
This isn’t a full-fledged VPN app and there are some features blocked for free users. It runs as a Chrome extension or Firefox extension, so it should be available even if traditional app stores are blocked in your country. All you need is a free Proton user account.
This VPN browser extension isn’t useful just because it’s free. It provides a whole different technique for privacy protection. Since it runs in a web browser, it only encrypts that traffic, not the other things you do on your computer. This means it will mask your IP address only for the websites you visit, such as streaming sites, and not for other things like games you play on your desktop.
When you open the extension, free users are given one connection option called Fastest free server. Clicking it auto-selects a server closest to you from the available free servers, which are located in the US and a few other countries. Paying subscribers can pick from over 6,000 servers across 100+ countries.
Non-paying users aren’t without options, though. The browser extension has a few settings that can be toggled on and off, including one to auto-connect to Proton VPN when you open the browser and another to switch on WebRTC leak protection. Advanced options like split tunneling are reserved for paying users.
According to Proton’s website, the company keeps “no logs that can compromise your privacy,” as the law in Switzerland, where the company is based, “prevents us from being forced to log user activity.”
The Proton VPN browser extension works with all Firefox and Chromium browsers, which includes not only Firefox and Chrome but also Brave, Microsoft Edge, LibreWolf, and others. If you want all the features available in the browser extension, plus desktop access and more, Proton VPN can be purchased for about $5 /month if you pay for a year upfront.
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