Still unsure whether you need to upgrade? Here's a practical breakdown:

While "updated premium account" lists found on unofficial forums or Telegram channels may seem like a shortcut to free features, they pose severe security risks, including identity theft and malware

Proton VPN's Secure Core is arguably its most innovative feature. Your traffic is routed from your device through one of Proton's hardened Secure Core servers, and then to an exit server in your desired country. These hardened servers are located in high-security data centers in countries with strong privacy laws (Switzerland, Iceland, Sweden, and now 12 additional nations). Even if an advanced network attack were to compromise an exit server, adversaries could only trace traffic back to the edge of the Secure Core network—never to your real IP address. These exclusive Secure Core exit servers are now available in 23 countries, including Austria, Brazil, India, Norway, Singapore, and South Africa.