ClownVPN
vs ProtonVPN.

Two of the very few genuinely-free VPNs. Same goal, different trade-offs. ProtonVPN throttles to push you to paid; we show ads to stay free.

⚡ Quick verdict

ProtonVPN Free wins on platform breadth, audit history, and Swiss jurisdiction. ClownVPN wins on speed (no throttling), no account required, no upsell campaign. They're complementary products solving the "free VPN" problem from opposite angles.

🎪 Two Approaches To "Free"

Proton AG (the company behind ProtonVPN, Proton Mail, Proton Drive, Proton Calendar) is the privacy-first software company everyone respects. Based in Switzerland, founded by CERN scientists, no-VC ownership, audited apps, open-source clients. Their ProtonVPN free tier exists because they believe privacy is a right and shouldn't be paywalled — but they also need to pay for their infrastructure, so the free tier is deliberately rate-limited to push some users toward paid plans.

ClownVPN takes the opposite approach: instead of rate-limiting free users into upgrading, we make money from one short ad on app-open. That covers our server costs without needing a paid tier at all. Result: free users get the full speed, full features, no upsell. The trade-off: we don't have Proton's brand history, their global infrastructure, or their audit credentials.

🎪 Free Tier Comparison

Feature	🤡 ClownVPN Free	ProtonVPN Free
Monthly data cap	Unlimited	Unlimited (bytes)
Speed throttling	None	Yes (explicit)
Server countries	1 (US, 6 cities)	3 (US, Netherlands, Japan)
Account email required	No	Yes
Card required	No	No
Ads in app	Yes (1 on open)	No
Kill switch	Yes	Yes
Split tunneling	Yes	Paid tier only
WireGuard	Yes	Yes
P2P / torrenting	Allowed (general traffic)	Paid tier only
Audited no-logs	Not yet	Yes (Securitum)
Open-source apps	No (closed Android)	Yes (all platforms)
iOS / Windows / macOS / Linux	Android only (others coming)	All

🎪 Where ProtonVPN Beats Us

Honest list:

Brand and history. Proton has 10+ years of building a privacy-first reputation. They didn't pivot from another business model; they were built on it.
Audit credentials. Their no-log policy has been audited by Securitum; their apps are open-source and independently reviewed. We have neither yet.
Swiss jurisdiction. Switzerland has strong privacy law (no mandatory data retention, no national-security- letter equivalent). We're US-based.
Platform breadth. Native apps on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, plus browser extensions and router configs. We're Android-only at the moment.
Ecosystem. Proton Mail, Proton Drive, Proton Calendar all integrate. If you want one privacy-focused vendor for everything, Proton is it.

🎪 Where ClownVPN Beats ProtonVPN Free

Speed. ProtonVPN free is deliberately throttled. Streaming a 1080p YouTube video is rough. ClownVPN free is full-speed.
No account required. Proton requires creating an account (email + password) even for the free tier. Account = identifier tied to your sessions. We don't have accounts; nothing identifies one user from another.
Split tunneling on free. Proton locks this behind their paid tier. We include it free.
No upsell campaign. Proton emails free users about their paid plans. We don't have your email; can't email you.
6 US cities vs 1 US server. If you're in the US and want US-region IPs from different cities (for latency reasons), we have more granularity than Proton's free tier.

🎪 Who Should Pick What

👉 Pick ProtonVPN if…

You need a non-US server (NL or JP)
Swiss jurisdiction matters to you
You already use Proton Mail / Drive
You need open-source apps for verification
You're OK with slow throttled free speeds
You're on iOS / Windows / macOS / Linux today
You don't mind creating an account

👉 Pick ClownVPN if…

You're on Android and want speed
You don't want any account creation
You use a US server anyway
You want split tunneling on the free tier
You'd rather see one ad on app-open than be throttled
You don't want upsell emails for the next 10 years

🎪 FAQ

Is ProtonVPN's free tier really unlimited data?

Technically yes — ProtonVPN doesn't impose a monthly data cap on the free tier. The catch: only 3 server countries (US, Netherlands, Japan), and there is explicit speed throttling that they openly acknowledge. So 'unlimited' applies to bytes, not to a usable streaming or downloading experience.

Is Proton trustworthy?

Yes — they have one of the best privacy reputations in the industry. Swiss-based, independent, started by CERN scientists, no investor pressure to compromise on privacy. Their no-logs policy is audited and their open-source apps are reviewed by independent researchers. They are the gold standard for paid-tier privacy VPNs.

If Proton is so good, why pick ClownVPN?

Three reasons: (1) ProtonVPN's free tier is intentionally crippled (3 countries, throttled) to drive paid signups, ours isn't. (2) Proton requires an email account; we don't have accounts. (3) Their primary value is non-US server coverage for international users; if you're in the US and just want US-based privacy on Android, ClownVPN delivers that without throttling or signup.

Is ProtonVPN free safer than ClownVPN?

By trust metrics: probably yes, today. Proton has audit history we don't yet. By data-surface-area: we collect less because we don't have accounts. Both are reasonable choices for privacy-focused users; they reflect different trade-offs.

Why is ProtonVPN free's speed throttled?

It's a deliberate funnel design. Free users get the protocol but a slower experience, so anyone serious about streaming or downloading eventually pays for the Plus tier (~$5-10/mo). It's an honest business model — they tell you it's throttled — but it's still the standard 'crippled free tier drives upgrades' playbook.