Protocol

VPNs that support a proprietary protocol

Providers that ship a closed protocol of their own. A category: the point of the term is that the implementation cannot be read, which is a property rather than a name.

10 providersCategory, not a protocolUpdated 21 October 2026

The HushFleet teamRegister of 21 October 2026

A proprietary protocol is one a provider designed and ships closed — the source is not published and nobody outside the company can read it. Hydra and Chameleon are examples. The category says the implementation is unreadable, not that it is bad.

On security that is the whole difference: there is no independent review of the cryptography or of what the client sends home, so a claim about it rests on the provider’s word and whatever an audit covered. Against the open protocols on this list it is a step down in evidence, whatever its actual strength.

Proprietary

Ranked by security

Four of the twelve terms — obfuscated, proprietary, vendor_open, wireguard_derived — are categories rather than protocol names: each says a protocol was disguised, closed or built on another, not which one it is. A record that publishes no protocol list at all appears on none of these pages (sixteen on file).

Insufficient
1
UltraVPN
Commercial VPNPanamaPango Group
Coverage—not published
Paying monthly—no monthly plan
Paying yearly$35.88yearly total
Free tierNopaid plans only
Devices10at once
17 out of 100
Security
75 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review
Insufficient
2
Surfshark
Commercial VPNNetherlandsNord Security
Coverage100countries
Paying monthly$16.45monthly
Paying yearly$79.00yearly total
Free tierNopaid plans only
Devicesunlimitedat once
16 out of 100
Security
67 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review
Insufficient
3
X-VPN
Commercial VPNSingapore
Coverage96countries
Paying monthly$11.99monthly
Paying yearly$47.99yearly total
Free tierYeslimited free plan
Devices5at once
15 out of 100
Security
78 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review
Not recommended
4
ClearVPN
Commercial VPNCyprus
Coverage54countries
Paying monthly—no monthly plan
Paying yearly$44.99yearly total
Free tierNopaid trial only
Devices6at once
12 out of 100
Security
76 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review
Not recommended
5
Total VPN
Commercial VPNUnited KingdomPango Group
Coverage—not published
Paying monthly$9.99monthly
Paying yearly$19.00yearly total
Free tierNopaid trial only
Devices1at once
11 out of 100
Security
61 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review
Not recommended
6
Betternet
Commercial VPNUnited StatesPango Group
Coverage80countries
Paying monthly$12.99monthly
Paying yearly—no yearly plan
Free tierYeslimited free plan
Devices10at once
10 out of 100
Security
78 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review
Not recommended
7
Planet VPN
Commercial VPNRomania
Coverage63countries
Paying monthly$9.99monthly
Paying yearly$47.88yearly total
Free tierYesfree, no data cap
Devices10at once
10 out of 100
Security
78 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review
Not recommended
8
F-Secure VPN
Commercial VPNFinland
Coverage—not published
Paying monthly—no monthly plan
Paying yearly$49.99yearly total
Free tierNopaid trial only
Devices5at once
6 out of 100
Security
61 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review
Not recommended
9
Speedify
Commercial VPNUnited States
Coverage37countries
Paying monthly$14.99monthly
Paying yearly$89.99yearly total
Free tierNopaid trial only
Devices5at once
2 out of 100
Security
51 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review
Not recommended
10
Hotspot Shield
Commercial VPNUnited StatesUsability: floor only
Coverage—not published
Paying monthly—no monthly plan
Paying yearly$29.00yearly total
Free tierYeslimited free plan
Devices10at once
0 out of 100
Security
71 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review

VPNs that support a proprietary protocol

Ranked by security

The other eleven protocols