Softwr

Networking · head to head

Eclipse Mosquitto vs ProtonVPN

Eclipse Mosquitto logo

Eclipse Mosquitto

Networking

Small, EPL-licensed MQTT broker that runs on hardware other brokers cannot

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
ProtonVPN logo

ProtonVPN

Cybersecurity

High-speed Swiss VPN that safeguards your privacy

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Eclipse Mosquitto there is no clustering: Mosquitto is a single process, so high availability means building your own failover and accepting session loss on switchover.; ProtonVPN free plan limited to one device at a time
  • They diverge on capability: Eclipse Mosquitto covers MQTT 5.0 support, ProtonVPN covers No-logs policy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Eclipse Mosquitto and ProtonVPN actually diverge.

Attributes where Eclipse Mosquitto and ProtonVPN differ
AttributeEclipse MosquittoProtonVPN
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feefreemium
PlatformsLinux, Windows, macOS, DockerWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
CategoryNetworkingCybersecurity
FoundedUnknown2014

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Eclipse Mosquitto

  • MQTT 5.0 support
  • Very small footprint
  • Bridging
  • WebSockets listener
  • Command line clients
  • Dynamic security plugin

Only in ProtonVPN

  • No-logs policy
  • Secure Core
  • Kill Switch
  • DNS leak protection
  • Tor over VPN
  • Split tunneling
  • NetShield ad-blocker
  • VPN Accelerator

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Eclipse Mosquitto

  • A home or building automation stack where the broker must run on the same small computer as everything elsenot ProtonVPN
  • An industrial gateway that buffers local telemetry and bridges selected topics to a cloud brokernot ProtonVPN
  • Local development and testing of MQTT clients without provisioning a cloud IoT servicenot ProtonVPN
  • An air-gapped deployment where a broker with no licence server and no phone-home behaviour is a requirementnot ProtonVPN

ProtonVPN

  • Privacy-focused browsing without subscription costnot Eclipse Mosquitto
  • Multi-device protection with Plus plan supporting 10 devicesnot Eclipse Mosquitto
  • Integrated access to Proton email and cloud services via Unlimited plannot Eclipse Mosquitto

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Eclipse Mosquitto

  • There is no clustering: Mosquitto is a single process, so high availability means building your own failover and accepting session loss on switchover.
  • Persistence is a local file rather than a replicated store, so a disk failure or an unclean shutdown can lose retained messages and queued QoS traffic.
  • Practical capacity is a few thousand concurrent clients on typical hardware, so a growing device fleet eventually forces a migration to a clustered broker.
  • The Eclipse Public Licence is weak copyleft rather than permissive, which some legal teams treat as a blocker when embedding the broker in a shipped commercial product.
  • There is no commercial support to buy from the project, so production incidents rely on community mailing lists or on paying a third party who happens to know the codebase.

ProtonVPN

  • Free plan limited to one device at a time
  • Free plan restricted to 10 countries with random selection
  • Pricing amounts not clearly published; shown as variable

Pricing, plan by plan

Eclipse Mosquitto

Free
  • Eclipse MosquittoFree
    • Eclipse Public License 2.0 with Eclipse Distribution Licence
    • MQTT 5.0, 3.1.1 and 3.1
    • No client or message limits beyond your hardware

ProtonVPN

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the ProtonVPN review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Eclipse Mosquitto if

  • You need mqtt 5.0 support.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, macOS, Docker.
  • You also want very small footprint.
Eclipse Mosquitto review

Choose ProtonVPN if

  • You need no-logs policy.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android.
  • You also want secure core.
ProtonVPN review

Questions people ask

Is Eclipse Mosquitto or ProtonVPN better?
Neither clearly leads. Eclipse Mosquitto starts at Free and ProtonVPN at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Eclipse Mosquitto or ProtonVPN?
Eclipse Mosquitto starts at Free and ProtonVPN at Free.
Does Eclipse Mosquitto or ProtonVPN run on more platforms?
Eclipse Mosquitto runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, Docker. ProtonVPN runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android.
Can I use Eclipse Mosquitto for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Eclipse Mosquitto best used for?
Eclipse Mosquitto is most often used for a home or building automation stack where the broker must run on the same small computer as everything else, an industrial gateway that buffers local telemetry and bridges selected topics to a cloud broker, local development and testing of mqtt clients without provisioning a cloud iot service, an air-gapped deployment where a broker with no licence server and no phone-home behaviour is a requirement. Of those, a home or building automation stack where the broker must run on the same small computer as everything else and an industrial gateway that buffers local telemetry and bridges selected topics to a cloud broker are not what ProtonVPN is typically brought in for.
What can Eclipse Mosquitto do that ProtonVPN cannot?
Eclipse Mosquitto covers MQTT 5.0 support, Very small footprint, Bridging, WebSockets listener. ProtonVPN covers No-logs policy, Secure Core, Kill Switch, DNS leak protection.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Eclipse Mosquitto: Can Mosquitto be clustered?

No. It is a single process. High availability requires an external failover arrangement you build yourself.

Eclipse Mosquitto: What licence is it?

Eclipse Public License 2.0 alongside the Eclipse Distribution License, a weak copyleft rather than a permissive licence.

Eclipse Mosquitto: How many clients can it handle?

A few thousand concurrent connections on ordinary hardware; beyond that, use a clustered broker.

Eclipse Mosquitto: Does it support MQTT 5?

Yes, along with 3.1.1 and 3.1.

Share

Related pages

More on Eclipse Mosquitto

More on ProtonVPN

Keep looking

Other head to heads