Head to head
The gap
The security score is not a total of good things. It starts at 100 and eight channels each take a share of what is left, so one channel can settle a record on its own. Both records are drawn here on the same scale — the model’s own cap of 0.9 — rather than on a scale fitted to this pair, which would make every comparison look equally dramatic.
Line by line
Every field the contract publishes about a provider, in the contract’s own groups, including the rows where the two agree — a table that printed only differences would invent a disagreement, and one that printed only the interesting rows would be us choosing what is interesting. Open a group to read its rows; each one says how many it holds and how many of them the two records answer differently.
A green cell means the methodology itself prices that value below the other one, not that we prefer it. Rows the model does not price carry no mark at all: price is never marked, because nothing in the model says cheaper is safer, and neither is coverage, platform count or devices. Where a value was never established the cell says so instead of showing a zero.
What actually happened
Other pairs
Pairs within the top ten get a page — 80 comparisons in all. Records below that are not paired here: a comparison earns a page where the choice between the two is a real one, and that choice is made near the top of the register.
Security
Usability
Rank 8 of 68 in the register
United States · Commercial VPN
Exits in 20 countries
1 documented demand, none of which produced data
2 documented demands, none of which produced data
Open questions
Still open on this record.
No independent audit. No third-party security, infrastructure or no-logs audit of OVPN's own systems was found on its site, in press or in help documentation; the closest adversarial test of its no-logs claim is the 2020 Swedish court proceeding, which is not an audit and does not speak to the current WireGuard/OpenVPN stack in detail.
Owner-group history predates OVPN's acquisition. The adverse finding behind this record's inclusion (X04) is a 2017 complaint against AnchorFree, Pango's corporate predecessor, over Hotspot Shield's ad-network data sharing — six years before Pango acquired OVPN. It was never adjudicated by the FTC, and OVPN's own infrastructure and policies are separately documented in this record.
Corporate structure split across two entities. OVPN's current Terms of Service and Privacy Notice name OVPN Inc. (Redwood City, California) as the contracting party, while OVPN's own help center names OVPN Integritet AB (Sweden, org. no. 556999-4469) as the operator. Both are described as under the same ultimate owner, Pango; which entity holds the infrastructure and legal responsibility for a given user was not resolved further.
Still open on this record.
What the audit actually checked. The no-logs finding is strong and narrow at once. Securitum inspected production servers in person in August 2025 and has done so annually since 2022.
The limits the report states itself. It is a point-in-time check, a guided review of systems demonstrated by Proton's engineers rather than an unsupervised forensic examination, and a representative sample rather than the whole fleet. CI/CD, source code and the account-management systems were explicitly out of scope, so nothing here speaks to what the billing side holds.
The appeal, and what it does not settle. The 22 October 2021 appeal is cited here with a caveat worth stating plainly: the Federal Administrative Court ruled that email services are not telecommunications providers, and neither the judgment coverage nor Proton's own account of it mentions the VPN.
What actually settles the two fields. What settles C10 and C11 is that Switzerland carries no mandate basis in the catalogue's own country list; the appeal corroborates how Swiss authorities treat Proton and is not by itself a finding about Proton VPN. A ruling on a sibling service is thinner ground than the citation makes it look.
The single largest open item. Proton offers exit locations in eight countries that impose a logging mandate. Whether hardware actually sits in any of them is not established: Proton withdrew physical servers from India in 2022 and documents Smart Routing for locations it serves from elsewhere, which points to virtual, but that was verified for India alone. Establishing C09b_mandate_hosting is the single largest open item on this record.
Notes
On the record as a whole.
The 2021 Swiss order that compelled prospective logging targeted Proton Mail, not the VPN, and is deliberately absent from P12: charging the VPN for a sibling product's order would be a fact about Proton AG, not about this service.
U08 is all_platforms because the support document gives enabling steps for Windows, macOS, Linux (GUI and CLI), Android and iOS/iPadOS — every platform with an app. The same document states two limitations that the value cannot carry and this note can: on macOS the real IP may be exposed briefly while switching servers, and on iOS some Apple service DNS requests can bypass the tunnel with the kill switch on.
U04b_price_yearly records the first-term charge on the 1-year VPN Plus plan: $53.88 for the first 12 months ($4.49/month), stated on the pricing page beside its own renewal line — "then renews at $83.88 every 12 months" ($6.99/month) — which is not the field's value.
Recent changes
1 change logged, on 13 Sep 2026
13 Sep 20261 changes
Security scoresecurity.score
25 changed to 24
OVPN and Proton VPN were assessed by the HushFleet team: OVPN scores 24/100 for security, in the Insufficient band, and Proton VPN 70/100, in the Acceptable band. The 46-point gap opens widest on Integrity — “Has it been caught saying one thing and doing another?” — taking 32% from OVPN and 0% from Proton VPN.
Security
Usability
Rank 1 of 68 in the register
Switzerland · Commercial VPN
Exits in 147 countries
| OVPN | Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Security | 24 insufficient · rank 8 of 68 | 70 acceptable · rank 1 of 68 |
| Usability | 62 out of 100 | 78 out of 100 |
| Record completeness | 70% usability 100% | 89% usability 83% |
| OVPN | Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Who operates the exit | Run by the provider itself provider_operated | Run by the provider itself provider_operated |
| Retention as declared | Nothing that links traffic to a person none_linkable | Nothing that links traffic to a person none_linkable |
| RAM-only diskless servers | Yes, on the provider's word yes_declaredBovpn.com · | No, servers write to disk noCprotonvpn.com · |
| IP allocation model | Dedicated address offered as an option dedicated_optionBsupport.ovpn.com · | Exit address shared between users sharedCprotonvpn.com · |
| Signup without email | Yes, on the provider's word yes_declared | Yes, on the provider's word yes_declared |
| Anonymous payment options | Cryptocurrency through a processorBsupport.ovpn.com · | Cash · Cryptocurrency through a processorCprotonvpn.com · |
| Own DNS inside the tunnel | Yes, on the provider's word yes_declared | Yes, on the provider's word yes_declared |
| Worst third-party SDK category in the app | Crash reporting crashBapps.apple.com · | No third-party SDK noneCprotonvpn.com · |
| Worst third-party tracker category on the site | Analytics analyticsBovpn.com · | — not establishedno source published |
| Who owns the hardware | Owned by the provider ownedBovpn.com · | Owned and rented both mixedCprotonvpn.com · |
| Offered countries that sit under a logging mandate | NoneBovpn.com · | 8 United Arab Emirates, Belarus, India, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkey, VietnamDprotonvpn.com · |
| Hosting in the mandate countries it offers | — the question does not ariseBovpn.com · | — not establishedno source published |
| Incorporation country mandates retention | — not establishedno source published | No such mandate noBprotonvpn.com · 2 sources · |
| Beneficial owner sits under a retention regime | — not establishedno source published | No such regime noBprotonvpn.com · 2 sources · |
| Persistent device identifier | None held none | None held none |
| Weakest protocol still offered | — the question does not arise | — the question does not arise |
| What the exit does to passing traffic | — not established | — not established |
| OVPN | Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| At least one independent audit | — not establishedno source published | Yes, and the report was read yes_verifiedAsecuritum.com · |
| How the report is published | — not establishedno source published | The full report is published full_pdfAsecuritum.com · |
| Subject of the audit | — not establishedno source published | The no-logs claim itselfAsecuritum.com · |
| Server fleet coverage | — not establishedno source published | A sample of servers sample |
| OVPN | Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Server seizure by law enforcement | No seizure on record none_known | No seizure on record none_known |
| Actual disclosure history | No disclosure on record none_known | No disclosure on record none_known |
| Court record of compelled production | Told a court it had nothing to produce unable_to_produce | Told a court it had nothing to produce unable_to_produce |
| Response to a national logging mandate | — not establishedno source published | Pulled its servers out rather than comply withdrew_physicalBprotonvpn.com · |
| Transparency report | Current, with request numbers fresh_with_numbers | Current, with request numbers fresh_with_numbers |
| Reported numbers plausible for this scale | — not establishedno source published | The numbers are plausible at this scale plausible |
| OVPN | Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Documented gap between claim and behaviour | No documented lie none | No documented lie none |
| Marketing against audit findings | No gap on record none | No gap on record none |
| Ownership structure transparency | Ownership is stated and checkable clear | Ownership is stated and checkable clear |
| Adverse events on the owner group record | A history of adware or malware adware_malware_historyAcdt.org · | Nothing adverse on record cleanCen.wikipedia.org · 2 sources · |
| How the service is paid for | Paid subscriptions only paid_onlyBovpn.com · |
| OVPN | Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | OVPN Inc.Bovpn.com · | Proton AG, Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva, SwitzerlandCen.wikipedia.org · 2 sources · |
| Where the company sits | United States USBovpn.com · | Switzerland CHCen.wikipedia.org · 2 sources · |
| Year the service launched | 2014Bovpn.com · | 2017Cen.wikipedia.org · 2 sources · |
| OVPN | Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms with a client | 6 Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, RoutersBovpn.com · | 9 Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Browser extension, Fire TV, iOS, Linux, macOS, WindowsBprotonvpn.com · |
| Countries with an exit | 20 countriesBovpn.com · | 147 countriesDprotonvpn.com · |
| Paying monthly | $12.00 per monthBovpn.com · | $9.99 per monthBprotonvpn.com · |
| ChannelPressure taken from what was left | OVPNDominant channel: Retention0 to 0.9, longer is worse | Proton VPNDominant channel: Hygiene0 to 0.9, longer is worse |
|---|---|---|
| RetentionDoes a record exist that links traffic to a person, and who checked? | 0.329 | 0.079 |
| IntegrityHas it been caught saying one thing and doing another? | 0.323 | 0.000 |
| IgnoranceHow much of this did nobody establish? | 0.227 | 0.071 |
| JurisdictionCan someone compel what exists, without the provider getting a say? | 0.200 | 0.050 |
| HygieneWhat identifying material is collected in passing, and can the client be checked at all? | 0.104 | 0.088 |
| ArchitectureWho operates the exit, and what does it do to the traffic? | 0.050 | 0.050 |
| DisclosureHas it already handed something over? | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| SilenceTen years, millions of users and nothing on record? | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| What is left of 100The channels multiply: each one takes a share of what the one before it left standing | 24 | 70 |
By circumstance
| OVPN | Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Torrenting | Allowed yes | — not established |
| Streaming | Reachable yes | — not established |
| Devices at once | 4 | 10 |
| Under censorship | Claimed to work claimed | Claimed to work claimed |
| Exits in mandate countries | None | 8 United Arab Emirates, Belarus, India, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkey, Vietnam |
| Hosting in those countries | — the question does not arise | — not established |
| Company under a mandate | — not established | No such mandate no |
| Secret orders | National security letters or their equivalent nsl_equivalent | Orders go through a judge judicial_only |
| Auditor name | — not establishedno source published | Securitum (Martin Matyja, Maciej Szymczak)Asecuritum.com · |
|---|
| Auditor category | — not establishedno source published | A security specialist security_specialistAsecuritum.com · |
|---|
| Assurance standard | — not establishedno source published | Another standard otherAsecuritum.com · |
|---|
| Date of latest report | — not establishedno source published | 2026-05-27Cprotonvpn.com · |
|---|
| Audit cadence | — not establishedno source published | An annual series annual_seriesCprotonvpn.com · |
|---|
| Total published audits | — not establishedno source published | 5Cprotonvpn.com · |
|---|
| Retention as the report states it | — not establishedno source published | Nothing that links traffic to a person none_linkableAsecuritum.com · |
|---|
| Client source code published | — not establishedno source published | Every client allCprotonvpn.com · |
|---|
| Reproducible builds | — not established | — not established |
|---|
| Separate pentest | — not establishedno source published | Yes, on the provider's word yes_declaredCprotonvpn.com · |
|---|
| Strength of the assurance opinion | — not establishedno source published | — the question does not ariseno source published |
|---|
| Warrant canary discipline | — not establishedno source published | Never had one noneBprotonvpn.com · |
|---|
| Requests received | 0Bovpn.com · | 458Bprotonvpn.com · |
|---|
| Requests that produced data | 0 | 0 |
|---|
| Secret-order regime | National security letters or their equivalent nsl_equivalentBeff.org · | Orders go through a judge judicial_onlyCswissinfo.ch · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Chronology of documented enforcement events | 1 documented demandBovpn.com · | 2 documented demandsCswissinfo.ch · 2 sources · |
|---|
freemium_funded| Claims of 100% anonymity or military-grade crypto | Claims total anonymity or military-grade encryption yesBsupport.ovpn.com · | — not establishedno source published |
|---|
| Aggressive lifetime subscriptions | Does not no | Does not no |
|---|
| Coverage exists only on affiliate sites | Covered outside affiliate sites too no | Covered outside affiliate sites too no |
|---|
| Security incident and how it was disclosed | No incident on record none_known | No incident on record none_known |
|---|
| Affiliate programme and payout tier | A standard payout standardBovpn.com · | — not establishedno source published |
|---|
| Owner-run review media discloses the tie | — the question does not arise | — the question does not arise |
|---|
| App store declaration | The store form matches the published policy matches_policy | The store form matches the published policy matches_policy |
|---|
| User base scale (mass >=10M, mid >=1M, niche <1M) | — not establishedno source published | Mass: 10 million users or more massCen.wikipedia.org · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Ultimate beneficial owner as written | PangoBsupport.ovpn.com · | Proton Foundation (Swiss non-profit, controlling shareholder since 06/2024); employees; FONGITCen.wikipedia.org · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Other businesses of the owner group | A portfolio of other apps | A portfolio of other apps |
|---|
| Country of the ultimate beneficial owner | USBovpn.com · | CHCen.wikipedia.org · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Owner group | pangoBsupport.ovpn.com · 2 sources · | independentCen.wikipedia.org · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Date the current owner took control | 2023-05-08Bovpn.com · | 2024-06Cen.wikipedia.org · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Role of this brand inside the group | A brand the group acquired acquired_brandBovpn.com · | The group's principal brand principalCen.wikipedia.org · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Infrastructure shared with cluster siblings | Separate infrastructure separate | Separate infrastructure separate |
|---|
| Paying yearly | $59.88 a year at renewal, billed onceBovpn.com · | $53.88 a year at renewal, billed onceBprotonvpn.com · |
|---|
| Usable free tier | No free tier noneBovpn.com · | A free tier with limits limited_freeBprotonvpn.com · |
|---|
| Works under active censorship | Claimed to work claimed | Claimed to work claimed |
|---|
| Protocols offered | 3 OpenVPN, WireGuard, An obfuscated protocolBovpn.com · 2 sources · | 4 WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2, An obfuscated protocolBprotonvpn.com · |
|---|
| Kill switch coverage | On desktop only desktop_onlyBsupport.ovpn.com · | On every platform all_platformsBprotonvpn.com · |
|---|
| Split tunneling available | Available yes | Available yes |
|---|
| Simultaneous connections | 4Bsupport.ovpn.com · | 10Bprotonvpn.com · |
|---|
| Friction to start using it | No account needed no_accountBsupport.ovpn.com · | An email address only email_onlyBaccount.protonvpn.com · 2 sources · |
|---|
| P2P allowed | Allowed yesBsupport.ovpn.com · | — not establishedno source published |
|---|
| Major streaming services reachable | Reachable yesBsupport.ovpn.com · | — not establishedno source published |
|---|
12 Sep 20265 changes
Security scoresecurity.score
75 changed to 70
Security verdictsecurity.verdict
strong changed to acceptable
Platforms with a clientU01_platforms
android, android-tv, apple-tv, fire-tv, ios, linux, macos, windows changed to android, android-tv, apple-tv, browser-extension, fire-tv, ios, linux, macos, windows
Friction to start using itU11_signup_friction
no_account changed to email_only
Usability scoreusability.score
80 changed to 78
