In the wake of the Proton controversy, I’ve been looking towards alternatives towards their services. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find a good alternative to ProtonVPN. I’m looking for the following in a VPN service:
- Port forwarding support
- Open source
- Android app and Firefox extension available
- Relatively cheap, around $3-4 month (okay with annual pricing)
The only options I found were Private Internet Access and Windscribe, but I found issues with them. If I’m cutting ties with Proton based on ideals I disagree with, I should be rejecting alternatives on the same basis.
Based on what I saw in the PIA subreddit, Private Internet Access seems to have some issues with service reliability and concerns about its ownership having ties to Israel, implying Zionist affiliation. Windscribe seems to have better service, but they have had a questionable social media history: edgy marketing including an AI-generated Hitler and a controversy where, according to them, they joked about a guy being mentally ill but their post easily looked like they were saying trans people are mentally ill.
Is there an option I missed? Should I try one of these options despite their faults? I’d like to know your thoughts.
AirVPN user for the past few years. No complaints except their website user interface.
Same. AirVPN seemed to be the only one offering static port forwarding at decent price when I was comparing options.
Really? A friend left AirVPN because of the connection always dropping. Dunno what they moved to afterwards, but no complaints in the group chat since. It was difficult to have a call with them because the connection just kept dropping a few minutes into the call.
Weird. I’ve never had an issue with their reliability. I have only ever used the Netherlands or US servers though
That might’ve been the issue. No idea which countries they were using.
I will throw in a +1 for AirVPN. I also like their pricing structure. It’s very flexible. I have it on my laptop and my phone.
I tried them about a year ago but everything was miserably slow
Not all of their servers are created equal.
I tried 3 different servers and they all sucked. At some point you stop giving them the benefit of the doubt
They seem legit except they discontinued port forwarding and they’re out of my price range.
It seems reasonably priced, the website is shoddy and I havent heard it mentioned enough to compare is all.
They still have port forwarding https://airvpn.org/faq/port_forwarding/
Whoops I responded to the wrong comment. This was meant for the reply mentioning IVPN.
Their 1 year plan is just under $3/mo.