About ProtocolProof

ProtocolProof exists to answer one question well: which VPN protocol should you actually use, and why? Review sites cover which VPN to buy; explainer sites define what a VPN is. We sit in between — the reference you open when you have a VPN and want to know whether to leave it on WireGuard, switch to OpenVPN, or reach for IKEv2.

How we work

Every technical claim here comes from a protocol's published specification, its source code, or a reputable dated source — the WireGuard and OpenVPN project documentation, the relevant RFCs, NIST standards, providers' own engineering posts, and independent security audits.

What we will not do is invent measurements. We have not run controlled speed tests, so we do not publish "we hit X Mbps" figures. When we describe one protocol as faster than another, that is a statement about its design and about independent testing across the industry, and we say so. Where an answer depends on your hardware or your provider — as the AES-256 versus ChaCha20 question does — we give you the decision rule rather than a false winner.

Our stance on security claims

VPNs are a privacy and security topic, so we hold the line on a few things. A VPN moves your trust from your network to the VPN provider; it does not make you anonymous or untraceable, and we never say it does. We only call a provider "no-logs" when there is an independent audit to point to, with a date. And we treat "military-grade encryption" as the marketing phrase it is.

How the site is funded

Some links to VPN providers are affiliate links: if you sign up after clicking one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That never changes which protocol we recommend — the facts are set by the specs. We also recommend providers that pay us nothing, such as Mullvad and Proton VPN, when they are the honest pick. Full details are on our affiliate disclosure page.

A good place to start is our main guide to which VPN protocol to use.