Proton
Privacy by default. Encrypted email, VPN, drive, calendar and password manager from Switzerland.
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About Proton
Proton is a Swiss privacy company building end-to-end encrypted productivity tools used by over 100 million people, journalists, activists and businesses worldwide. The Proton suite includes Mail, VPN, Drive, Calendar, Pass and Wallet, all engineered so that Proton itself cannot read user data.
Founded at CERN in 2014 by scientists who met at the Swiss research lab, Proton operates entirely under Swiss jurisdiction and is owned by the non-profit Proton Foundation. All Proton clients are open source and have undergone independent security audits.
Integrations
Demo video
Features
- End-to-end encryption across Mail, Drive, Pass, Calendar, VPN
- Zero-access architecture, so Proton cannot read user content
- Swiss jurisdiction and ownership by the Proton Foundation
- Open-source clients with independent third-party audits
- PGP-compatible Mail with anonymous Send
- Proton Sentinel program for high-risk users
- Native apps on Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Linux
- Custom domain support with DKIM, SPF and DMARC
- SAML SSO and SCIM provisioning on Business plans
- Bridge for IMAP/SMTP integration with native clients
- Anti-phishing link confirmation
- Hide-My-Email aliases via SimpleLogin
Sovereignty Scorecard
Procurement-grade signals on data sovereignty, ownership, and EU residency.
Foundation owned
Owned by the Proton Foundation (Stiftung Proton), a Swiss non-profit foundation, since June 2024. The foundation's purpose is to safeguard internet freedom and ensure Proton remains independent.
🇨🇭 Switzerland
- Proton Mail Inc. — 🇺🇸 United StatesUS sales and customer support presence; does not hold or process user content.
- SimpleLogin SAS — 🇫🇷 FranceOperator of the SimpleLogin email alias service acquired by Proton in 2022.
Fixed region
All user content is stored on Proton-owned hardware in Swiss data centres. Region is not customer-configurable; Switzerland is the only jurisdiction.
Website: Proton-owned servers (Switzerland) behind a Swiss CDN
Application: Proton-owned data centres in Plan-les-Ouates and Lausanne
Email: Proton-owned mail clusters (Switzerland)
CDN: Self-hosted (no Cloudflare or Akamai for user-facing apps)
| Name | Country | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe Payments Europe Ltd. | 🇮🇪 Ireland | Card payment processing |
| Twilio Ireland Ltd. | 🇮🇪 Ireland | SMS-based two-factor authentication |
| Zendesk International Ltd. | 🇮🇪 Ireland | Customer support ticketing |
Information Security Management System covering all Proton services
Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (revised 2023)
Trust Services Criteria, anticipated late 2026
Pricing
€0
- 1 GB Mail + Drive storage
- End-to-end encryption
- 1 free VPN connection
- Encrypted Calendar and Password Manager
€3.99
- 15 GB total storage
- Custom domain support (1 domain)
- 10 email addresses
- Unlimited folders, labels, filters
€9.99
- 500 GB storage across all services
- Proton VPN with Secure Core
- Proton Pass with unlimited shared vaults
- Up to 3 custom domains
- Sentinel high-security program
€12.99
- 1 TB per user
- DPA + SCCs available
- Admin console + SSO + SAML
- Priority support
Videos
Official downloads
Questions & Answers
6 questions
Where is Proton headquartered and where is data stored?
Proton AG is headquartered in Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva, Switzerland. All user data is stored in Swiss data centres operated by Proton, including the company-owned hardware in Lausanne and Plan-les-Ouates. Switzerland is outside the European Union but offers stronger privacy protections than EU/EEA jurisdictions in many areas.
Is Proton subject to the US CLOUD Act?
No. Proton AG is a Swiss-domiciled legal entity with no US subsidiary or US-headquartered parent. Proton is owned by the Proton Foundation, a Swiss non-profit. The CLOUD Act applies to US-headquartered providers and their foreign subsidiaries, neither of which describe Proton.
Can I use Proton with my own custom domain?
Yes. Mail Plus supports one custom domain and Proton Unlimited supports up to three. Business plans support unlimited domains. Setup is via DNS records (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and is documented in the admin panel.
Does Proton offer a Data Processing Agreement?
Yes. Proton offers a GDPR-compliant Data Processing Agreement and Standard Contractual Clauses for business customers. Documents are available on request from [email protected] or directly through the Business admin panel.
Are Proton apps open source?
Yes. All Proton client applications (Mail, VPN, Drive, Calendar, Pass) are open source under permissive licences and the source code is published on GitHub. The cryptographic libraries have been independently audited by Cure53, Securitum and other reviewers, and the audit reports are publicly available.
What happens if Proton receives a Swiss subpoena?
Proton can only provide data it actually has, and because of zero-access encryption that is limited to subscriber metadata such as IP at registration (if not paid in cash). Proton publishes a transparency report twice a year documenting the orders received and how they were handled.
Alternatives
Other European companies in the same category as Proton.