Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

ProtonVPN VS Freenet

Compare ProtonVPN VS Freenet and see what are their differences

ProtonVPN logo ProtonVPN

ProtonVPN is a security focused FREE VPN service, developed by CERN and MIT scientists. Use the web anonymously, unblock websites & encrypt your connection.

Freenet logo Freenet

Mae-enjoy mo na ang LIBRENG INTERNET ACCESS mula sa freenet! Ang libreng net na bet! freenet is an app where you can access the internet for free. Get 24/7 free access to our partner apps and sites. FREE INTERNET!
  • ProtonVPN Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-17
  • Freenet Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12

ProtonVPN features and specs

  • Privacy and Security
    ProtonVPN offers strong encryption protocols (AES-256), a no-logs policy, and is based in Switzerland, which has strong privacy laws.
  • Open Source
    The ProtonVPN apps are open source and have been independently audited, which adds to their transparency and trustworthiness.
  • High-Speed Servers
    ProtonVPN provides high-speed servers and supports P2P file sharing, making it suitable for activities like streaming and torrenting.
  • Multi-Platform Support
    It supports a wide range of devices and operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Linux.
  • Free Tier Available
    ProtonVPN offers a free version that has no data limits, although it does come with some restrictions compared to the paid plans.
  • Secure Core
    The Secure Core architecture routes traffic through multiple servers in privacy-friendly countries, offering an additional layer of security.

Possible disadvantages of ProtonVPN

  • Price
    ProtonVPN's paid plans are generally more expensive compared to other VPN services with similar features.
  • Limited Free Tier
    The free tier has limited access to servers and slower speeds, which may not be suitable for all users.
  • Streaming Limitations
    Although it supports streaming, some users have reported limitations and inconsistencies when trying to access certain geoblocked content.
  • Device Connection Limit
    The basic plan allows only up to two simultaneous device connections, which might be limiting for some users.
  • No 24/7 Customer Support
    ProtonVPN lacks 24/7 live chat customer support, which could be a drawback for users needing immediate assistance.

Freenet features and specs

  • Privacy and Anonymity
    Freenet is designed to allow users to publish and retrieve information with strong privacy guarantees. This is achieved through decentralized data storage and routing, which makes it difficult to trace the source or destination of data.
  • Censorship Resistance
    Due to its decentralized nature, Freenet is built to resist censorship. Data is spread across various nodes, making it hard for any single entity to control or block access to information.
  • Decentralized Network
    Freenet does not rely on centralized servers; instead, data is distributed across a network of volunteers. This reduces single points of failure and lowers the risk of network shutdown.
  • Self-Healing Technology
    Freenet incorporates self-healing algorithms to ensure data redundancy and resilience. If a node goes offline, the network automatically redistributes the data, maintaining availability.
  • Free Software
    Freenet is open-source software, meaning its code is freely available for anyone to inspect, modify, and distribute. This openness fosters transparency and collaboration among developers around the world.

Possible disadvantages of Freenet

  • Performance Issues
    Due to the encryption and decentralization methods used, Freenet can be slower than traditional internet services. Users may experience longer wait times for data retrieval and downloads.
  • Complexity
    Setting up and using Freenet can be more complex compared to conventional internet applications. Users may need to invest time to understand the system and properly configure it.
  • Limited Content Availability
    Freenet's user base is smaller compared to the traditional internet, leading to less content being available. Additionally, because it's decentralized, finding specific content can be more challenging.
  • Storage Load
    As a node in the Freenet network, users contribute storage space to help host distributed data. This can consume significant disk space, affecting the performance of the host machine.
  • Potential for Malicious Content
    The anonymity and decentralization that protect privacy and resist censorship can also be exploited to distribute illegal or harmful content. This raises ethical and legal concerns.

ProtonVPN videos

ProtonVPN Review 2019 - HONEST REVIEW!

More videos:

  • Review - ProtonVPN Review 2020 - WATCH BEFORE YOU BUY
  • Review - ProtonVPN Review 2020 - here is the TRUTH

Freenet videos

Aaron Jones: Introduction To Freenet

More videos:

  • Review - Internet Security: TOR and Freenet

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ProtonVPN and Freenet)
VPN
84 84%
16% 16
Security & Privacy
89 89%
11% 11
Security
79 79%
21% 21
Cloud VPN
86 86%
14% 14

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare ProtonVPN and Freenet

ProtonVPN Reviews

Best 5 Psiphon Alternatives in 2023
The risks associated with picking a free VPN usually outweigh the pros, but in the case of ProtonVPN that’s a trusted service, you might just get away without paying a single dime for spoofing your location. There are obvious downsides with going for a completely free service – only 3 server locations and no access to geo-restricted Netflix content. However, the moment you...
The Best NordVPN Alternatives in 2022
What’s unique about ProtonVPN is its VPN Accelerator solution combined with a 10 Gbps server network to increase VPN speeds by over 400 percent. It also uses multiple OpenVPN processes for every server and re-engineered OpenVPN for optimum distribution of load.
Source: www.alphr.com
Best NordVPN Alternatives
ProtonVPN hails from a long line of privacy-centric products like ProtonMail. Moreover, CERN scientists are responsible for the company behind this VPN. Thus, it has a reputation to uphold, that of a privacy-centric VPN. Furthermore, the providers also offer a free ProtonVPN version by subsidizing the premium user base. As expected, the company hails from Switzerland and...
Source: vpnwired.com
10 Best NordVPN Alternatives – Safe & Fast VPNs in 2022
ProtonVPN is one of the reliable alternatives of NordVPN when it comes to well-optimized servers. The VPN service has both free and premium plans, but users can’t select servers in the free plan. In total, ProtonVPN has 526 servers in 42 countries, and it’s always known for its ping time and faster speed.
Source: techviral.net
The 10 Best Open Source VPN Apps
If you frequently watch YouTube, you must have at least heard of this VPN application. Not only is ProtonVPN available on all Windows, macOS, and Linux-based systems, but you’ll also find its mobile apps on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store. A little background on this app: ProtonVPN has been developed by a team of scientists from MIT and CERN, so you know it’s...

Freenet Reviews

The 10 Best Open Source VPN Apps
Although you can get this VPN free of cost, the creators recommend making donations so that the software can be updated more frequently. Lastly, you can install this application on Windows, Linux, and macOS, but Freenet is not available on mobile platforms like some of the other entries on our list.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, ProtonVPN should be more popular than Freenet. It has been mentiond 310 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

ProtonVPN mentions (310)

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Freenet mentions (33)

  • We're getting some positive attention on HN right now
    You are linking "original Freenet" to a PDF on freenet.org instead of linking to freenetproject.org ? Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Freenet 2023: A drop-in decentralized replacement for the world wide web
    It clashes with the Freenet project https://freenetproject.org/. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Ask HN: What Are Alternatives to the Internet?
    There's a few abstractions of the web you can use today. https://freenetproject.org/ https://geti2p.net/en/ https://www.gnunet.org/en/ https://www.ipfs.tech/. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • A player-owned RPG - would you want to participate in such a game?
    Instead of use of Blockchain you could also use Freenet . The only bad thing here data could be lost, but mostly only data is lost when not used. This could be used to auto purge forks that most people dislike. If for example some reason there are multiple alternatives how the story goes some of them will die after a while and removed from system. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Internet Archive Takes Down BBC’s Documentary on PM Modi: Report
    An automatically space balancing solution would be Freenet. Given that it's content addressing, it's possible to push data into it and have it deduplicate automatically. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing ProtonVPN and Freenet, you can also consider the following products

Windscribe - Windscribe is a desktop application and browser extension that work together to block ads and trackers, restore access to blocked content and help you safeguard your privacy online.

I2P - The I2P network provides strong privacy protections for communication over the Internet.

OpenVPN - OpenVPN - The Open Source VPN

Tor Browser - Tor is free software for enabling anonymous communication.

NordVPN - NordVPN offers VPN technology that encrypts data twice.

Psiphon - Psiphon is circumvention software for Windows and Mobile platforms that provides uncensored access to Internet content. Read more about Psiphon.