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Proton Mail Reviews 

1,717
TrustScore 2.5 out of 5

2.3

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Looking at 258 reviews, most reviewers were unhappy with their experience overall. Many customers expressed significant dissatisfaction with the customer service, describing it as unhelpful, unresponsive, and often leading to dead ends. People frequently reported issues with account access, including being locked out or having accounts disabled without clear reasons, making it impossible to retrieve important data. The subscription plans were often seen as inflexible, with users feeling pressured into higher tiers for features they didn't fully utilize, and some experienced unexpected charges or difficulties managing their subscriptions. However, some customers also noted positive aspects, such as the clean and minimal interface, smooth operation, and the ease of setting up family accounts and custom domains. A few other people also felt that the customer support was responsive and helpful, especially for those on paid subscriptions, and appreciated the overall functionality and security features.

What people talk about most

Service

Consumers find service to be ambiguous, with some reviewers praising it as an outstanding provider for... See more

User experience

Customers had ambiguous experiences with user experience, with some reviewers expressing satisfaction with... See more

Website

People report ambiguous experiences with the website, with some praising its clean and minimal interface,... See more

Customer service

Users describe negative interactions with customer service, with many reviewers reporting it as Customers... See more

Subscription

Reviewers highlight ambiguous aspects of subscription, with some expressing satisfaction with free tiers or... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

As a sole email user, I find the current and past plans inflexible. My limited use of email and lack of interest in other products or a second account for a family member puts me at a disadvantage.... See more

Company replied

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

On the whole it’s a good product and you kind of rely on the privacy aspect. The apps are slick and work well. The one big thing that lets them down is their support and upselling - often led by p... See more

Company replied

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

I' ve been using Proton Mail for a few weeks now. Importing all history from my 2 Gmail accounts worked like a charm (some emails initially seemed to be missing, but that was just because Proton... See more

Company replied

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Originally, I chose ProtonMail because of its FOSS web client, sieve support, the capability to contact support personnel, and that its UserVoice instance provided a way to vote on feature reque... See more

Company replied


Company details

  1. Email Service Provider

Written by the company

Keep your conversations private with Proton Mail, an encrypted email service based in Switzerland.


Contact info

2.3

Poor

TrustScore 2.5 out of 5

2K reviews

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1-star

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2.3

All reviews

(1,717)

396 reviews in the last 12 months

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Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Proton does what it does well. With some room for improvement.

People expecting a top notch support from a nonprofit should review their expectations. Yes, it could be better. 100%. But Proton’s prices are unbeatable (at least on the email side of things). They have a transparent, quarterly release roadmap for all of their apps and services. And never really had a sustained outage of any kind.

It’s not made for everyone. There are alternatives available (and probably better, depending on your case scenario) that I can’t name in my review. But, if privacy and security is your number one priority, Proton is the one to go for.

29 November 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

Thank you for your review and 4-star rating! We'll share your feedback with the team.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

At the moment proton won't let me read…

At the moment proton won't let me read my e-mail...I don't have that many...I will not upgrade. I don't care that much for email or apps. I did like the simplicity of proton, kinda. I have been with you guys for 3yrs...and it has been like beta most of the time.

I hope this is just an error as I will gladly update this review.

27 November 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

Hello. Do you see any error messages? Are you over your storage quota perhaps? Can you reach out to us at https://proton.me/support-contact so we can help and better understand your request?

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Proton.me stjæler dine penge

Proton.me har et rigtig godt email system, men når noget går galt!, så er deres service og support et rent amatørteater og måske det værste i branchen. Jeg modtog en link med et BLACK FRIDAY tilbud- spar 60% på en VPN Unlimited version 24 måneder.
Jeg klikkede på linket og foretog et indkøb. Men ordrebekræftelsen lød på en Proton eMail Plus submission og dette abonnement har jeg allerede og det kører til og med maj 2026 hvor det bliver automatisk fornyet.
Men pengene for min Black Friday ordre allerede trukket på min konto. Det er ikke lykkedes mig at få Proton.me til at forstå at de har lavet en fejl. De vil ikke refundere mine penge- eller ændre min ordre til det VPN Unlimited version jeg faktisk har bestilt. De beholder mine penge som de har trukket. Jeg har selvfølgelig opsagt mit eMail Plus abonnement, det har bekræftet at abonnemenet ophører maj 2026 (uagtet at jeg altså er trukket for en fornyelse der skulle ske maj 2026). Proton.me´s support er ekstremt akademisk de svarer ikke på en klar tekst, de kommer med ligegyldige spørgsmål og side lange links og referencer til vejledninger og processer og fraskrivelser- helt umuligt at arbejde med
Det er ikke den første dårlige oplevelse jeg har med Proton.me, og når jeg kigger på anmeldelserne her på Trustpilot: Proton – Proton Mail – Proton VPN, har jeg kun én anbefaling: BLIV VÆK FRA PROTON.ME

In English: Proton.me is stealing your money
Proton.me offers a very good email system, but when something goes wrong, their service and support turn into pure amateur theater — possibly the worst in the industry.
I received a link for a BLACK FRIDAY offer: save 60% on a VPN Unlimited 24-month subscription.
I clicked the link and made a purchase. But the order confirmation showed a Proton Email Plus subscription instead — a subscription I already have, which is active until may 2026, when it will renew automatically.
But the money for my Black Friday order had already been withdrawn from my account. I have not been able to get Proton.me to understand that they made a mistake, and they are simply keeping the money they charged me.
I have of course cancelled my Email Plus subscription, and they confirmed that it will end in may 2026 (even though they have already charged me for the renewal that should only happen in May 2026). Proton.me’s support is extremely academic — they do not respond to clear messages. Instead, they send irrelevant questions and long lists of links, references, instructions, processes, and disclaimers, completely impossible to work with.
This is not my first bad experience with Proton.me, and when I look at the reviews on Trustpilot: Proton – Proton Mail – Proton VPN, I have only one recommendation: STAY AWAY FROM PROTON.ME

Update: I immediately replied on Nov. 29th to Proton Support with the two Ticket numbers I received from protonsupport! but not unexpectedly - today Dec. 10th, I STILL HAVE NOT HEARD FROM THEM. SUPER BAD STYLE FROM PROTON

11 November 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

That doesn't sound right. Do you have a ticket number you can share, Frank? If you haven't contacted us, please do so at https://proton.me/support-contact so we can help.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

So bad!

So bad!! The platform doesn't work and has many basic limitations. I raised support calls and no response. Had to claim money back via paypal.

Basically akin to a scam.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!!

27 November 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

Sorry to hear about your experience. Do you mind sharing your ticket number with us here?

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I almost lost everything I had because…

I almost lost everything I had because of this comedic service after using it for not even a month I get banned because of abusing the system meanwhile I only had verified all my importants account there even my banking thankfully I retrieved 60% of it this company is a joke run away as fast as you can I tried using support they didn't restore or helped me they claimed it went of a journey talking to bricks and with some delusional custom service employee got back to Gmail where the privacy is being sold but at least you don't lose it all because some stupid bot that 100000000 people be complaining about and Proton does nothing to change it I wouldn't be surprised if this Company is just run by CIA

27 November 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

Sorry to hear about the trouble. We do not use bots to respond to our customers. Can you please share your ticket number with us here or contact us at https://proton.me/support-contact so we can help?

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Annoying UI

For example, proton pass has a bar on the top of the webpage trying to make me install an extension. Browser extensions, especially with read and write all access, are an extreme security hazard. The use of insecure extensions should be discouraged, not encouraged. This makes it feel like a product targeted at low iq people who cannot figure out how to use copy paste functionality. There are many other examples of annoying UI "features" such as this one.

24 November 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

Sorry to hear that you feel that way. We'll share your feedback with the team.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

What's not to like?

My experience is not negative. I use the mail service since setting up in business because I want my clients information to be secure (I don't want google to assimilate information about people using a heath-related service).

What really moves it into Five Star for me is discovering this week that I can use the Proton Calendar to seamlessly book Zoom meetings - so Google does not have access to my contacts. This is essential to me because client confidentiality is paramount.

First experience leaving reviews on Trustpilot because I really appreciate the service they offer and I think the overall feedback for Proton it well out of wack.

20 November 2025
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

Thank you for your review and feedback! We're glad to hear you're enjoying our services! If there's anything we can do to imporve, please let us know at https://proton.me/support-contact

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The Anti-Loyalty Algorithm Experience

Following my request 4137208, I fully understand how Lumo Pro works - 1 GB Mail, 5 GB Drive.
The part I don’t understand is why keeping exactly the same services suddenly requires a 239 € yearly plan (99 € upfront), while new users get the "Unlimited Experience" (Driver/VPN/15 GB Mail/Pass..) for 84 €/year.
It’s not a loyalty program - it’s an anti-loyalty algorithm.

After sixteen exchanges with support, including more than twenty repetitions of the same information (already visible in Proton’s own billing dashboard), I discovered a unique internal rule:
nothing is valid unless turned into a screenshot - not even public pricing, not even data Proton already stores.
It’s like being asked to take a photo of the sun to prove it’s daytime.

I first spoke with J**, then with F**, but the transition felt like switching from one Agent Smith to another. New name, same script, same loop, same screenshot request - as if Proton Support were generated from the same template.

At one point I genuinely wondered whether the goal was to resolve my issue or to test how long a human can endure repeating the same facts without losing coherence.
If there’s a secret tier called ‘Proton Patience +’, I’ve definitely unlocked it.

Honestly, offering 1 TB of storage at this point would be less absurd than the current loop - and certainly more efficient.
Because the only thing I’m trying to keep is coherence, not capacity.

An impressive experience, for a service I initially chose to avoid exactly this kind of digital circus.

19 November 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

Hello. Sorry to hear about your experience. We'll share your feedback with the team. Could you please share the ticket number with us here so we can look into your case?

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

been using mail and password manager…

password manager is good but email ui is not. it's extremely slow. they've added completely unnecessary javascript garbage that makes ui slow and buggy. and customer service is not helpful. if you ask a question you get an ai response that just keeps stringing you along with requests to provide more info. this is a common tactic to avoid providing any real customer service. combination of outsourcing and ai in a race to the bottom results in terrible products.

8 November 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

We're working on improving the autofill for all web services reported by our community. Please feel free to flag any problematic web services or apps to us either by editing your review or by contacting us at https://proton.me/support/contact, and we'll note your feedback for future improvements. Thank you for taking the time to review our app!

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Support that doesn’t listen, a system that makes no sense

I signed up for Proton with the Business plan to add several team members. The idea was simple: activate my admin account first, finish the setup, and then purchase the extra licenses. Not so simple with Proton.

Only my one admin account was activated and working. Every attempt to add more licenses was blocked with a message saying my SEPA payment was “still processing”. And here’s where it gets absurd: if Proton allows one account to function before the SEPA payment is confirmed, why on earth do they block additional purchases made with a credit card that can be approved instantly? It makes zero sense from a business or technical standpoint.

Despite the payment already leaving my bank, Proton froze all subscription changes until SEPA clears — which can take up to two weeks. I’m sitting here trying to spend more money on their service and they literally refuse to let me. No override, no workaround, nothing.

Support was painfully slow and completely tone-deaf to the situation. Every reply was a copy-paste variation of “SEPA is still processing, thank you for your patience.” No effort to understand the impact on an actual business trying to onboard a team. No escalation. No problem-solving. Just scripted responses while I’m stuck waiting for a banking delay I can’t control.

What makes it worse is that Proton never discloses that SEPA payments lock your subscription. Had I known, I would’ve simply used my credit card from the start. Instead, I walked straight into a trap caused by their own system design.

Right now my account is practically useless for team onboarding. Until Proton sorts out this mess — or trains support to think instead of reciting scripts — I can’t recommend them to any serious business user.

One extra star for the perceived product value and famed security.

14-11-2025
In response to your request @Proton. Ticket 4155956. Good if you can investigate and use it for improvement of your systems. But you've already lost a client as we already moved to another provider.

13 November 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

Hello. Sorry to hear about your experience. Could you please share your ticket number with us here so we can follow up on your case?

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I lost access of my

I lost access of my 6 years older proton mail. Not happy at all.

10 November 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

Sorry to hear about that. Please contact us at https://proton.me/support-contact so we can help.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Access Restored, But Customer Service Response Time Was Extremely Poor

Original Review: 1/5
Updated to 2/5 – November 2025
I am updating this review following the successful restoration of access to my encrypted email account (used under the proxy domain name, which was secured with 2FA). The account had been locked since a cyber attack in October 16th/18th, 2025.
Resolution and Security (Positive Points):
I can confirm that access has been fully restored via the enabled password reset action.

Proton's security measures worked technically to protect the account during the incident. Customer Support confirmed they had registered suspicious behaviour and temporarily restricted access, assuring me that the account "was safe from any third-parties since we locked it down and nobody was able to access it at all". This security lockout was recognized as an "Account Lockout Risk" related to the inability to locate the necessary 12-word recovery phrase.
Justification for Low Score:
The 2/5 rating primarily reflects the unacceptable delay and lack of urgency in customer support throughout the recovery process:
• Extended Lockout Period: The account holder was locked out of their personal email account from October 19th until mid-November, a period of several weeks.
• Customer Support Delays: I repeatedly expressed that I was "increasingly frustrated by the lack of urgency" and demanded, on November 6th, "Restore my access; you have solid proof the account it mine".

Overall, Proton's lack of responsiveness compounded what had been a difficult situation and caused much frustration and inconvenience. Indeed, I had to lodge a complaint to the Swiss Data Commissioner such was the lack of assistance or urgency from Protonmail's customer support.

19 October 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

Sorry to hear about your experience. Could you please share your ticket number with us here so we can look into your request?

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I really wanted this to work

I really wanted this to work - I wanted to be more private but after my experience with this company I have gone back to Gmail. I joined, everything worked okay for about a week and then my emails and calendar stopped synching with Gmail. I tried I don't know many times to contact them for help and I kept getting messages back from 'Nikolai' asking the same questions. In the end I gave up - I will just cancel in 12 months as I need an email for Zoom - lesson learned - I wish I had read these reviews. Terrible service, zero customer support - do not go near them.

Update: It's sad to me that Proton have responded to this review asking for my ticket number so they can look into it - why couldn't they have just helped me? Well here's the ticket number 4091349. You can plough through my 10 or so messages to you without any help.

28 October 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

Hello Angela. Sorry to hear about your experience. Could you share your ticket number with us here so we can look into your case?

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Disappointed and Concerned

I signed up for Proton Mail because I value privacy and security, but my recent experience with support has been deeply frustrating.

I submitted my first support request on November 5th about a critical issue with my account, and then another ticket afterward. My tickets are #4134556 and #4142072.

Despite waiting patiently, I have yet to receive a meaningful response, and it feels like the time window to resolve my issue may have already passed. It’s disheartening to see such delays from a service I trusted so much.

I understand the team may be under high load, but this experience leaves me anxious and disappointed. I hope Proton Mail can improve their response times so that users like me don’t feel ignored during urgent situations.

5 November 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

Sorry to hear about your experience, and thanks for sharing your ticket number with us. The deletion process has been prevented, and an agent will be in touch with you soon with further instructions on how to recover your account. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

These are supposed to be physicists…

These are supposed to be physicists running an email service. It's pathetic. Elementary formatting is lacking. Online outages are common. Smartphone app malfunctions all the time. It gets spammed by lots of institutional servers. Physisicista running? More like amateurs. Do something!

7 November 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

Hello Paolo. Sorry to hear that you feel that way. We'll share your feedback regarding the formatting. You can see our status page for any past incidents: https://status.proton.me/. If you're having trouble with the Proton Mail app, submit a bug report via the "Report a problem" feature.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Proton Drive: no way to validate the upload

Proton Mail, VPN and Pass are okay. But drive is a failure. Uploading a big folder with subfolders using a browser, there is no way to validate if the upload is correct. If you try to repeat the upload, it only checks if the folders are uploaded but not the files in the folders! You would have to check every subfolder, to make sure, every file is uploaded. Just a mess...

I am already in contact with your support (4111091). So far no solution.
Thank you for your support! Could have found it out myself, sorry.

6 November 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

That doesn't sound right. Could you please report this to us at https://proton.me/support-contact so we can look into it?

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Absolute LIARS

I have tried to use this pathetic service twice for its private and verification free email sign up.

Both times I wasted time with this rubbish service, it immediately restricts access so I cannot receive verification emails from any provider, which was the entire purpose of using this obscure and cumbersome email provider.

What's the point in forcing people to add their own email or telephone number as recovery, when they want privacy!

6 November 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

Hi! If you've tried to register for a third-party service immediately after creating a Free Proton Mail account, it may trigger anti-abuse mechanisms designed to block automated or mass registrations. This is often linked to our IP reputation and the need to prevent third-party accounts from being created by spam bots or human spammers.

Please follow the instructions in the automated email to lift these restrictions.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I wish i had read the reviews here…

I wish i had read the reviews here first. I just signed up with an annual subscription and they have already locked me out of my account. They don't tell you what you have done or any warning. Then they send a long email about how they scan all your emails.
We use algorithms that scan behavior indicators and anonymized usage data to identify and quickly disable abusive and fraudulent accounts automatically. We also use human verification checks when new users set up Proton Accounts, but none of these methods are foolproof. Beware fellas i have never had these kind of issues with an email service. You safer with google then with these blokes. I dont even know what i have done, its got to be a mistake. Just warning everyone they scan all your emails. If you think you have come here to get a bit of privacy you are wrong.

Just an update. it took 3 days for them to reply. They are scammers posing as a legit company.

Your service is a disgrace and a scam. Your website headlines with "Over 100 million people use Proton to stay private and secure online". You suspend and lock me out of my account with no warning or reason. You read all my emails, and now you want documents from me to prove my innocence when no crime has been committed. I signed up for an annual subscription with your service with good intentions, believing the rubbish on your website. Even if you unsuspended my account, I wouldn't use you. Sooner or later your scam will be taken to task, and you will be exposed for the frauds that you are. I wish I had read Trustpilot first.

Please issue me with a refund, or are you going to scam me out of my funds as well?

On 11/8/25 03:01, Proton Mail wrote:
> ##- Please type your reply above this line -##
>
> Hi,
>
> We’re just wondering if you've had a chance to review the latest update from your request
>
> Our Customer Support Agent provided an update some time ago but we haven't heard back from you.
>
> If you'd like to provide an update, or require more time to work through our latest comment, simply reply to this email.
>
> If we don't hear back from you we’ll solve this ticket within the next few days.
>
>
> Ethan (ProtonMail)
>
> Nov 5, 2025, 03:39 GMT+1
> Hello,
>
> Please be advised that your account was disabled by our team as a result of the messaging it was used for.
>
> Would you care to explain the purpose of your account and provide us with details so this case can be reassessed by our team?
>
> If you are operating this account as part of a business, please provide the registration documents of your service.
>
> Looking forward to your reply, please let us know if we can assist you further.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Ethan
> Customer Support
> Proton Anti-Abuse Team

4 November 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

At Proton, you can always reach a real person quickly if this happens, by filling out the form here https://proton.me/support/appeal-abuse. If your account was disabled in error, it gets restored rapidly. Sometimes disables are for security reasons if we detect takeover attempts or suspicious behavior. Details here: https://proton.me/blog/anti-abuse-account-security. If you've already contacted our anti-abuse support team, please share your ticket number in your review so we can check up on the situation.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I used google workspace (business) for…

I used google workspace (business) for years before moving to Proton and have never looked back. Great service, great price, privacy and you get features you'll actually use without all the unnecessary bloat. I'm not a new customer, been using Proton for a while now and have never been disappointed. easy 5/5

4 November 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

Thank you for your support and 5-star review!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

One of the worst email app available

One of the worst email app available, if it weren’t cause emails are e2ee they wouldn’t have 1/100th of current user base. What a joke of an app, last app updates are riddle with all kind of glitches, check my inbox screen capture, settings that aren’t saved, WTF? you desperately need some help from gmail, best thing happening to you is being bought out by google, you clearly can’t make an app, not even mentioning the other ones

3 November 2025
Unprompted review
Proton Mail logo

Reply from Proton Mail

Sorry to hear about your experience Bob. Please submit a bug report via the "Report an issue" feature in the app so we can look into this.

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