Proton VPN vs Windscribe

Comparing: two VPNs
Decided by: Independent no-logs audits
Last reviewed: 2026-08-26

Five straight annual no-logs audits published in full, plus the only free tier here that a privacy-minded reader can honestly be pointed at.

WindscribeTakes bitcoin

Seized twice and prosecuted once, with nothing to hand over each time; no email needed to sign up, and it takes bitcoin over Lightning.

Verdict: Proton VPN

Proton VPN carries more independent audits of its no-logs claim: 5 against 3 for Windscribe. We publish no rating for VPNs, so the audit count is the one criterion that decides.

Criterion: Independent no-logs audits
Proton VPN: 5
Windscribe: 3

Proton VPN and Windscribe, fact by fact

Every row is from the two reviews as of their review dates, with sources on each. A check marks the side a decidable criterion favours; rows without one are information, not a score.

Proton VPN and Windscribe compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
Fact	Proton VPN	Windscribe
Independent audits	5, latest 2026 (favoured on this row)	3, latest 2024
Real-world tests	0	3
Incidents on record	0	1
Market exits	0	0
Owner	Proton AG	Windscribe Limited
Jurisdiction	Switzerland	Canada
Eyes alliance	Outside	Five Eyes
Price	Free tier, or paid VPN Plus	$69/yr Pro, or from $3/mo
Money-back	30 days	7 days
Crypto accepted	bitcoin	bitcoin, bitcoin lightning
Anonymous signup	No	Yes
Free tier	Unlimited bandwidth, one device, servers in 10 countries, no ads	10 GB a month with a confirmed email, 2 GB without, across 11 countries
Servers	Vendor states thousands of servers, with paid plans reaching over 140 countries and the free tier limited to ten	Vendor states servers in more than 69 countries on paid plans, all running from RAM after the FreshScribe rebuild
Last reviewed	2026-08-26	2026-08-26

No-logs evidence, side by side

Dated audits and real-world tests from each review. An empty column is a finding: the claim has not been independently checked.

Proton VPN

2026Audit by Securitum: fifth consecutive annual no-logs audit of the production server infrastructure, report published in full
2025Audit by Securitum: annual on-site no-logs audit of the server infrastructure
2024Audit by Securitum: annual on-site no-logs audit of the server infrastructure
2023Audit by Securitum: annual on-site no-logs audit of the server infrastructure
2022Audit by Securitum: first annual no-logs audit, conducted on site

Windscribe

2026Dutch authorities physically seized a Windscribe server from a data centre rack: The company reports they found a stock install running entirely in RAM, with no drives, logs or user data on it
2025Greek prosecutors, with INTERPOL involvement, charged co-founder Yegor Sak personally over activity traced to a Windscribe server: The case was dismissed on 11 April 2025 after a two-year fight, because Windscribe held no user data to produce
2024Audit by PacketLabs: the full FreshScribe server infrastructure, 20 repositories and roughly 80,000 lines of code, with external and internal penetration testing
2022Audit by Leviathan Security Group: security audit of the mobile applications
2021Audit by Leviathan Security Group: security audit of the desktop applications
2021Ukrainian authorities seized two Windscribe servers: No user activity logs were found, but the unencrypted disks exposed an OpenVPN certificate authority key; Windscribe disclosed this publicly and rebuilt its network to run only in RAM

Frequently asked questions

Is Proton VPN or Windscribe better for privacy?

Proton VPN carries more independent audits of its no-logs claim: 5 against 3 for Windscribe. We publish no rating for VPNs, so the audit count is the one criterion that decides. Audits, court and seizure records and incidents are dated on each review with their sources.

Can I pay Proton VPN or Windscribe with bitcoin?

Proton VPN takes bitcoin (processor: In-house). Windscribe takes bitcoin and bitcoin lightning (processor: In-house). Each review quotes the vendor's own refund sentence for crypto purchases verbatim.

Which is cheaper, Proton VPN or Windscribe?

Proton VPN: Free tier, or paid VPN Plus. Windscribe: $69/yr Pro, or from $3/mo. Money-back: Proton VPN 30 days, Windscribe 7 days. Prices are from each vendor's own page as of the review date.

Where are Proton VPN and Windscribe based?

Proton VPN: Switzerland (outside the five, nine and fourteen eyes alliances). Windscribe: Canada (five eyes member). A jurisdiction matters less than a court record showing what the provider could hand over; the reviews carry those where they exist.

The full reviews: Proton VPN and Windscribe, each with its sources, and every VPN we review.

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