Proton VPN: the free plan, NetShield and Secure Core explained
What does the free plan include? When are NetShield and Secure Core useful? How do you check the kill switch? Proton VPN’s features explained.
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What to expect
Proton VPN encrypts the route between your device and its servers for covered traffic. The free plan has no data cap. Paid plans add features including NetShield and Secure Core; their value depends on your needs and what is available on your operating system.
What changes between your device and a website
At a hotel, your laptop uses a network you do not administer. With a VPN running, supported traffic first travels through an encrypted tunnel to a VPN server. The destination website generally sees the server’s exit address rather than your connection’s address.
HTTPS already protects the content exchanged with websites that use it correctly. A VPN adds protection along the path to its server and shifts some trust to its operator. Sign in to your usual account and the website still knows who you are. Your basket, cookies and posts do not disappear because your IP address changes.
What the free plan provides
Proton offers a free plan without a data quota. It does not include everything in the paid plans: check the current comparison for server choices and additional features. Unlimited data does not promise a particular speed on your connection.
Try an ordinary week of browsing, video calls and phone use away from home. Look for actual friction rather than judging speed by one page load. You can then identify a feature that would justify a subscription, or find that you do not need one.
NetShield, Secure Core and their limitations
NetShield uses DNS filtering to block domains associated with ads, trackers or malicious content. It is a paid feature. It can reduce unwanted connections, but does not inspect every file or remove every advert embedded in a website.
Secure Core, also a paid feature, routes a connection through multiple servers, starting with infrastructure Proton describes as hardened. It aims to reduce some risks from a compromised exit server. The extra route can add latency. It does not hide the identity of a signed-in account or resolve an infected device.
| Feature | A useful question |
|---|---|
| NetShield | Do I want domain filtering, and how would I recognise a false positive? |
| Secure Core | Do I have a specific concern about exit servers, and what latency can I accept? |
| Kill switch | What should my device do if the tunnel stops working? |
Check the kill switch on your own operating system
The kill switch aims to prevent traffic resuming outside the tunnel after an interruption. Behaviour depends on the operating system and mode. A standard kill switch is not the same as permanently blocking traffic after a deliberate disconnect.
Proton documents limitations on Apple devices, including some DNS traffic, and possible brief IP exposure when changing servers on macOS. Read the section for your device before relying on an uninterrupted block.
Use a session without sensitive activity to try sleep, wake, a network change and reconnection. Record what stays accessible and which messages appear. This can reveal a configuration issue; it is not a comprehensive network leak audit.
Set up your first connections
Running several VPNs at once quickly complicates troubleshooting. Start with one application and the connection settings recommended for your system. Add options individually so that you can keep track of what changes.
Depending on the system and settings, a VPN may also interfere with access to a local printer or storage device. Check these tasks while you have time to investigate, rather than when you urgently need to print a ticket.
- Download and update the official application for your system.
- Make a simple connection and check the tunnel’s status in the app.
- Try important tasks: calls, familiar websites and local network services.
- Read the kill switch instructions for this system and choose the behaviour you need.
- If an option causes trouble, return to the last working setting and record the affected service.
Check latency and everyday use
A fast download does not describe the whole experience. Video calls also depend on consistency, and a service may repeatedly challenge sign-ins from some shared addresses. Compare on the same device, at similar times and over as stable a connection as possible.
Keep a small log: server, active mode, connection time, interruptions and affected applications. A single measurement cannot establish a lasting ranking between VPNs. We have not run a benchmark for this article and do not assign performance figures to the service.
Choose between free and paid
It is a reasonable option to explore if you want to try a VPN without a data quota before paying, or gradually learn about filtering and multi-server connections. Check the features on your exact operating systems, especially if you switch between a Mac, a Windows computer and a phone.
Move to a paid plan if you need its features and they are available on your devices. A VPN does not protect a reused password or files without backups. Keep those needs separate when allocating your time and budget.
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Sources for this article
Numbers connect each reference to the passages that use it. Dates show when the documentation was consulted.
- Proton VPN: NetShield and DNS filtering ↗protonvpn.com ·
- Proton VPN: How Secure Core works ↗protonvpn.com ·
This article draws on the sources above. The exercises are for you to try on your devices; SecuFocus does not present them as tests carried out by its editorial team. Interfaces and features can change. Method and corrections.
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