Softwr

Cybersecurity · head to head

ProtonVPN vs Very Good Security

ProtonVPN logo

ProtonVPN

Cybersecurity

High-speed Swiss VPN that safeguards your privacy

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Very Good Security logo

Very Good Security

Cybersecurity

Tokenisation proxy that keeps card and personal data out of your own systems and out of PCI scope

From
$1000/month
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; Very Good Security vGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • They diverge on capability: ProtonVPN covers No-logs policy, Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ProtonVPN and Very Good Security actually diverge.

Attributes where ProtonVPN and Very Good Security differ
AttributeProtonVPNVery Good Security
Starting priceFree$1000/month
Pricing modelfreemiumPer month
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidWeb, API
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 Very Good Security

  • Aliasing proxy
  • PCI scope reduction
  • Network tokenisation
  • Processor optionality
  • Card issuing data
  • Vault and access controls
  • Data residency options
  • Compliance artefacts

What people use each for

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

ProtonVPN

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

Very Good Security

  • A marketplace facing its first PCI DSS Level 1 assessment that wants to keep card data off its own estate rather than harden a dozen servicesnot ProtonVPN
  • A merchant negotiating with a second acquirer that needs card credentials portable so the negotiation is real rather than theoreticalnot ProtonVPN
  • A fintech collecting bank account and identity documents that wants sensitive fields absent from logs, backups and analytics warehouses by constructionnot ProtonVPN
  • A card issuer that must display a full PAN in its own mobile app without the app or its backend touching cardholder datanot 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

Very Good Security

  • VGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • Token portability is the whole selling point yet leaving VGS means migrating tokens back out, a project the vendor has no incentive to streamline, so the lock-in you removed from your acquirer partly moves to VGS.
  • Entry pricing at around one thousand US dollars a month is real money for a pre-revenue fintech, and it buys volume-limited throughput, so cost scales with exactly the growth that made you buy it.
  • Scope reduction is not scope elimination: your QSA still assesses how you integrate, and teams regularly discover that a support tool or an internal admin screen pulled plaintext back in and dragged systems into scope again.
  • Proxy-based interception constrains how you design request flows, and non-standard payloads, streaming uploads or binary formats often need custom routing rules that make debugging production issues noticeably harder.

Pricing, plan by plan

ProtonVPN

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the ProtonVPN review.

Very Good Security

$1000/month
  • Starter$1000/month
    • Aliasing proxy
    • Vault storage
    • PCI scope reduction
  • Growth$undefined/month
    • Network tokenisation
    • Multiple processors
    • Data residency options
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom vault architecture
    • Dedicated support and SLA
    • Contractual compliance coverage

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 Very Good Security if

  • You need aliasing proxy.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want pci scope reduction.
Very Good Security review

Questions people ask

Is ProtonVPN or Very Good Security better?
Neither clearly leads. ProtonVPN starts at Free and Very Good Security at $1000/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ProtonVPN or Very Good Security?
ProtonVPN has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for ProtonVPN and $1000/month for Very Good Security.
Does ProtonVPN or Very Good Security run on more platforms?
ProtonVPN runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android. Very Good Security runs on Web, API.
Can I use ProtonVPN for free?
Yes. ProtonVPN has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Very Good Security starts at $1000/month.
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 Very Good Security is typically brought in for.
What can ProtonVPN do that Very Good Security cannot?
ProtonVPN covers No-logs policy, Secure Core, Kill Switch, DNS leak protection. Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy, PCI scope reduction, Network tokenisation, Processor optionality.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Very Good Security: Does VGS make me PCI compliant?

No. It removes cardholder data from your systems so your assessment covers a far smaller boundary, but you still complete an assessment and your integration is part of it.

Very Good Security: Can I move to another processor without re-collecting cards?

Yes, that is a core reason people buy it. The vault reveals stored credentials to whichever processor you route to.

Very Good Security: What does it cost?

Published entry pricing is about one thousand US dollars per month; growth and enterprise tiers are quoted.

Very Good Security: Is it only for card data?

No. The proxy handles any sensitive field, including bank details, national identifiers and documents, though payments is where the product is now focused.

Share

Related pages

More on ProtonVPN

More on Very Good Security

Keep looking

Other head to heads