Why the Proton Unlimited Is Actually Worth the Money
If you’re looking for a better alternative to traditional free email services like Gmail, I highly recommend giving Proton Mail a try. The service is completely free and offers some of the best privacy you’ll find on an email platform. Plus, it ties in with other services offered by Proton, such as a VPN, a password manager, and even a privacy-focused calendar service.
But I think what Proton is really good at is their monthly subscription . With so many features already available in the free version of the services, spending $13 per month ($10 per month if purchased annually) for Proton Unlimited may seem unnecessary. But if protecting your online privacy is your priority, the Proton Unlimited’s extra features are absolutely worth the cost. If you don’t think the whole package is useful to you, Proton also splits some of its services into separate subscriptions.
What does Proton give you for free?
By default, a subscription to Proton’s services gives you the most important features such as end-to-end encryption, encrypted contact information and multiple calendars. You’ll also get 5GB of Proton Drive storage for free, which is end-to-end encrypted, making it more private than Google Drive. VPN functionality has also been added (but only for one device), giving you access to medium-speed VPN servers in five countries. Additionally, Proton has its own free password manager in the form of Proton Pass . There’s so much to love about Proton before you’ve even spent a dollar that you might not even consider a subscription at all. But you should.
So many privacy features for email
Perhaps my favorite thing about Proton Unlimited is the support for three custom email domains in Proton Mail: this allows you to change your email address to whatever you want, whether you want a custom domain for your business or choose an address that sounds better than @protonmail.com. You also get support for 15 different email addresses on your Proton account, so you can have separate accounts for shopping, social media, etc. It’s a convenient way to break up email notifications without having to sign up for and juggle multiple Proton accounts. You can also send an unlimited number of messages and set up an unlimited number of folders, labels, and custom filters—an area that is somewhat limited in the free version of Proton Mail.
Proton Unlimited also gives you unlimited “hide my email aliases,” a feature that allows you to give out fake email addresses that forward back to your real address. This way, no one needs to know your personal address. Apple offers something similar , but it only works if you sign up on your Apple device. Proton’s offering is much more affordable as it can run on Windows PCs, Macs, iPhones, and Android phones.
On the calendar front, your access to individual calendars will increase from three to 25 with Proton Unlimited, and you’ll be able to share your calendar with others. Proton Drive gets 500GB of storage with the basic unlimited plan, although the biggest upgrades are definitely with the enhanced Proton VPN (more on that later).
While it’s also available in a free version, the fact that your emails are fully encrypted (so even Proton can’t access them) is another huge benefit for Proton Mail overall, especially if you’re sending and receiving personal information. .
If you don’t feel like you need all the features that Proton Unlimited offers, you can also simply subscribe to Proton Mail Plus. This service costs $4.99 per month and includes 15 GB of storage, 10 custom email addresses, and support for one custom email domain. You’ll also get unlimited folders, shortcuts, and filters, but you’ll miss out on the extra features added to Proton VPN, which may suit some.
VPN Proton is better in Unlimited
While Proton VPN is one of the best free VPNs you can find , Proton Unlimited gives you full access to all of Proton’s fastest VPN servers in over 90 countries. You also get P2P/BitTorrent access, NetShield protection, Tor over VPN, a VPN accelerator for faster speeds, native DNS if you want to use it, and local network connections.
P2P and BitTorrent protection helps hide your IP address when sharing files or downloads, and built-in NetShield blocks ads and annoying trackers that spy on your browsing history. Accessing Tor over a VPN also allows for even safer web browsing by combining the functionality of the Tor browser and the network routing of Proton VPN. If you really want to take it up a notch, the custom DNS feature allows you to further protect yourself from attackers by providing a custom protocol for connecting to the Internet.
Every website you visit is always trying to track you in some way, which is why using a VPN has become so important. Proton’s free VPN is already good, but Proton Unlimited’s VPN is even better at blocking ads and trackers without sacrificing too much home Internet speed. I’ve used ExpressVPN and Nord VPN in the past, and Proton’s speeds (even in the free version) beat them every time.
More storage and built-in 2FA with Proton Pass
Without Proton Unlimited, Proton Pass gives you two password vaults, 10 email aliases, and the ability to share your Proton Pass with two other people. But if you sign up for Proton Unlimited, you’ll get up to 50 different vaults, unlimited aliases to hide your email, built-in two-factor authentication (2FA), and the ability to share your data with up to ten other users. If you’re only interested in using the Proton Pass, you can also sign up for Pass Plus, which costs $4.99 per month (or $1.99 per month for an annual subscription).
New updates including Dark-Web monitoring
The latest update to Proton Unlimited provides real-time dark web monitoring that will inform you if any of your personal information appears in the sketchiest corners of the internet. Similar services are offered by many financial institutions, but having a place that you check every day (like your email) is a great way to make sure you’re always on top of your personal security.
Again, you don’t have to pay for Proton to benefit here: the free version of Proton Mail is feature-rich and doesn’t lock any important privacy settings behind a paywall, so the service will protect your privacy at no cost. ten cents. But if you want even more features to protect your privacy and more tools to organize your digital life, Proton Unlimited is the one for you.