Atom
vs
Proton VPN
Proton VPN
Proton VPN
Comparison · August 2026
Proton is a privacy company people trust. Trust is not the same as a private machine for a hard network.
| Atom | Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | Dedicated household node | Shared privacy app |
| Month-to-month | $49 | ~$10 |
| Best billed / mo | $29.08 ($349/year) | Promo, moves |
| IP | Dedicated. Never shared. | Shared |
| Who is on it | One household | Shared plan limits |
| When it is ready | Reserved on pay. Live in ~15 min. | Install tonight. |
| China in 2026 roundups | Product: private node on a hard network | Often rare / frustrating in China tests |
Snapshot as of August 2026. Consumer prices move. How we compare.
Proton’s brand is Swiss, audited, and earnest. That is a real reason to use them at home. It is not, in 2026 public China tests, a reason to expect a smooth trip. Several roundups put Proton in the “rarely” bucket. We are not piling on. We are naming the mismatch: privacy reputation ≠ dedicated travel node.
Atom does not try to be a privacy religion. We sell a household machine and a dedicated IP. $49 a month. Pay, wait about 15 minutes, land on cellular, then hotel Wi‑Fi.
Stay with Proton (or Mullvad). If the job is “the family needs a private address that exists before Beijing,” that is Atom. Different products can be honest at the same time.
We keep what we need to bill you and run the node. We do not sell a browsing history. Proton’s privacy story is their whole brand. Read both terms.
People search it next to China. The 2026 roundups are weak there. Better to say so than to pretend we are in a feature bake-off.
Also: China travel · Terms