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Cybersecurity · head to head

ProtonVPN vs Teleport

ProtonVPN logo

ProtonVPN

Cybersecurity

High-speed Swiss VPN that safeguards your privacy

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Teleport logo

Teleport

Cybersecurity

Certificate-based access to servers, Kubernetes, databases and apps, replacing shared credentials and VPNs

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only ProtonVPN has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: ProtonVPN free plan limited to one device at a time; Teleport pricing is not published and is described as active users plus protected resources, so an autoscaling estate cannot forecast the bill and finance teams discover the true cost only after the first true-up.
  • They diverge on capability: ProtonVPN covers No-logs policy, Teleport covers Short-lived certificates.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ProtonVPN and Teleport actually diverge.

Attributes where ProtonVPN and Teleport differ
AttributeProtonVPNTeleport
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidLinux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud
Founded2014Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

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 ProtonVPN

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

Only in Teleport

  • Short-lived certificates
  • Protocol coverage
  • Session recording and replay
  • Access Requests
  • Device Trust
  • Identity provider integration
  • Machine identity
  • FIPS and FedRAMP builds

What people use each for

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

ProtonVPN

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

Teleport

  • Removing long-lived SSH keys and shared database passwords so that offboarding an engineer takes one action in the identity providernot ProtonVPN
  • Producing session recordings and per-user database audit trails as direct evidence for SOC 2 or FedRAMPnot ProtonVPN
  • Giving contractors or on-call engineers time-boxed, approved access to production instead of standing admin rightsnot ProtonVPN
  • Replacing a flat VPN with per-resource authorisation across servers, Kubernetes and internal web appsnot ProtonVPN

Where each one falls short

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

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

Teleport

  • Pricing is not published and is described as active users plus protected resources, so an autoscaling estate cannot forecast the bill and finance teams discover the true cost only after the first true-up.
  • The proxy is a hard dependency on reaching production, so it needs its own high availability deployment and a tested break-glass path or an outage in Teleport becomes an outage in your ability to respond to outages.
  • The open source Community Edition omits Access Requests, Device Trust and the FIPS builds, which are exactly the controls an auditor asks about, so the free tier rarely survives a compliance review.
  • Self-hosting means running and upgrading a certificate authority and its backing store, and Teleport releases frequently enough that upgrade work becomes a standing operational commitment.
  • Coverage across protocols is uneven in depth, so teams with legacy systems, unusual databases or bespoke network appliances find gaps that still require the old VPN to remain in place alongside it.

Pricing, plan by plan

ProtonVPN

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the ProtonVPN review.

Teleport

On request
  • Teleport Community Edition$undefined/year
    • Open source, self-hosted
    • SSH, Kubernetes, database and app access
    • Session recording
  • Teleport Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Cloud-hosted or self-hosted
    • Access Requests and approval workflow
    • Device Trust and hardware key enforcement

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Teleport if

  • You need short-lived certificates.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud.
  • You also want protocol coverage.
Teleport review

Questions people ask

Is ProtonVPN or Teleport better?
Neither clearly leads. ProtonVPN starts at Free and Teleport at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ProtonVPN or Teleport?
ProtonVPN has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for ProtonVPN and On request for Teleport.
Does ProtonVPN or Teleport run on more platforms?
ProtonVPN runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android. Teleport runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud.
Can I use ProtonVPN for free?
Yes. ProtonVPN has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Teleport starts at On request.
What is ProtonVPN best used for?
ProtonVPN is most often used for privacy-focused browsing without subscription cost, multi-device protection with plus plan supporting 10 devices, integrated access to proton email and cloud services via unlimited plan. Of those, privacy-focused browsing without subscription cost and multi-device protection with plus plan supporting 10 devices are not what Teleport is typically brought in for.
What can ProtonVPN do that Teleport cannot?
ProtonVPN covers No-logs policy, Secure Core, Kill Switch, DNS leak protection. Teleport covers Short-lived certificates, Protocol coverage, Session recording and replay, Access Requests.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Teleport: Is the open source edition usable in production?

Yes, but it lacks Access Requests, Device Trust and FIPS builds, which most compliance programmes end up requiring.

Teleport: How is it priced?

Not publicly. The vendor prices on active users and protected resources and provides a quote after a sales conversation.

Teleport: What happens if Teleport goes down?

Nobody reaches the resources behind it, so you need a highly available deployment and a documented break-glass procedure.

Teleport: Does it replace our VPN?

For anything you put behind it, yes. Legacy systems and appliances it does not support will keep the VPN alive.

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