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.

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[–] 3 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/windscribes-bizarre-ai-hitler-marketing-stunt-sparks-fury-and-vpn-subscription-cancellations

windscribe is also bit weird to deal with. I have exchanged messages with their customer support or whatever on reddit and it wasn't ideal, and have also interacted with their ai chat on their website. I had issues with their product on linux and their ai gave me the console instructions that if entered would have deleted my operating system.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 hour ago (1 child)

    Seems like they're trying to hard. Wow.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 hour ago

    They are one of the ones who seem decent until you look into them more, or experience them for yourselves, but that is just my opinion. It pays to try to do your own research, that isn't necessarily easy with vpns, most of them are dodgy in one way, or another. If they offer 70% etc off deals... they are obviously trash, so that is a decent way to shorten your list, after that it gets more complicated.

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