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Developer Tools · head to head

OpsLevel vs ProtonVPN

OpsLevel logo

OpsLevel

Developer Tools

Internal developer portal that scores service ownership and production readiness

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
ProtonVPN logo

ProtonVPN

Cybersecurity

High-speed Swiss VPN that safeguards your privacy

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only ProtonVPN has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: OpsLevel opsLevel does not publish prices at all, not even a starting figure, so you cannot size a budget or compare against Backstage's zero licence cost without entering a sales cycle.; ProtonVPN free plan limited to one device at a time
  • They diverge on capability: OpsLevel covers Service catalogue, ProtonVPN covers No-logs policy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which OpsLevel and ProtonVPN actually diverge.

Attributes where OpsLevel and ProtonVPN differ
AttributeOpsLevelProtonVPN
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotefreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity
FoundedUnknown2014

Identical on both: 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 OpsLevel

  • Service catalogue
  • Scorecards and rubric
  • Checks
  • Campaigns
  • Self-service actions
  • Slack and Teams integration
  • Catalogue auto-enrichment
  • Deployment on request

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.

OpsLevel

  • A platform team that needs to prove every production service has a named owner and an on-call rota before an auditnot ProtonVPN
  • Driving a fleet-wide migration such as a runtime upgrade across 400 services with a deadline and visible progressnot ProtonVPN
  • Giving developers a paved road to create a new service from a template without waiting on the platform teamnot ProtonVPN
  • An organisation where an incident took an hour to route because nobody could identify the owning teamnot ProtonVPN

ProtonVPN

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

Where each one falls short

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

OpsLevel

  • OpsLevel does not publish prices at all, not even a starting figure, so you cannot size a budget or compare against Backstage's zero licence cost without entering a sales cycle.
  • The Standard plan caps at 50 users, which is below the size at which service ownership becomes a real problem, so most genuine buyers land on Enterprise and its unpublished pricing.
  • Scores are only as honest as the metadata teams maintain; where ownership records go stale the rubric produces confident numbers about a catalogue that no longer reflects reality, and leadership acts on them.
  • It reports on quality rather than producing it, so it can generate friction between platform teams who set the rubric and product teams who see it as a scoreboard imposed on them without extra headcount to fix the findings.
  • As a hosted product it needs read access to source control, cloud accounts and observability tooling, which is a meaningful vendor review in regulated environments; on-premises exists but only on the Enterprise tier.

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

OpsLevel

On request
  • Standard$undefined/year
    • Up to 50 users
    • Unlimited catalogued components
    • Scorecards, campaigns and the global rubric
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Unlimited users
    • Custom integrations
    • Customisable dashboards

ProtonVPN

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the ProtonVPN review.

Which should you pick?

Choose OpsLevel if

  • You need service catalogue.
  • You also want scorecards and rubric.
OpsLevel 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 OpsLevel or ProtonVPN better?
Neither clearly leads. OpsLevel starts at On request and ProtonVPN at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, OpsLevel or ProtonVPN?
ProtonVPN has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for OpsLevel and Free for ProtonVPN.
Does OpsLevel or ProtonVPN run on more platforms?
OpsLevel runs on Web. ProtonVPN runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android.
Can I use ProtonVPN for free?
Yes. ProtonVPN has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. OpsLevel starts at On request.
What is OpsLevel best used for?
OpsLevel is most often used for a platform team that needs to prove every production service has a named owner and an on-call rota before an audit, driving a fleet-wide migration such as a runtime upgrade across 400 services with a deadline and visible progress, giving developers a paved road to create a new service from a template without waiting on the platform team, an organisation where an incident took an hour to route because nobody could identify the owning team. Of those, a platform team that needs to prove every production service has a named owner and an on-call rota before an audit and driving a fleet-wide migration such as a runtime upgrade across 400 services with a deadline and visible progress are not what ProtonVPN is typically brought in for.
What can OpsLevel do that ProtonVPN cannot?
OpsLevel covers Service catalogue, Scorecards and rubric, Checks, Campaigns. ProtonVPN covers No-logs policy, Secure Core, Kill Switch, DNS leak protection.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

OpsLevel: How much does OpsLevel cost?

It does not publish pricing. Billing is per developer using the portal, with volume discounts, and a quote requires a sales conversation.

OpsLevel: How does it compare with Backstage?

Backstage has no licence fee but you staff a team to build and run it. OpsLevel is hosted with checks, campaigns and scorecards out of the box, and you pay per developer instead.

OpsLevel: Does it require writing catalogue YAML by hand?

No. It auto-discovers and enriches entries from connected systems, though teams still curate ownership and metadata.

OpsLevel: Can it run on premises?

Yes, but only on the Enterprise plan.

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