The Proton Terms of Service (the “Terms”) apply to the websites proton.me and protonvpn.com, to a Proton Account and to the Services: Proton Mail, Calendar, Drive, VPN, Pass, Meet and Docs. They state that the Services are operated by Proton AG, a Swiss company in Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva, supervised by the non-profit Proton Foundation.[1] Proton Wallet is operated by a subsidiary, Proton Financial AG, under independent terms, and Lumo has its own terms of use.[1] The page shows “Last modified: June 23, 2026”.[1]
Unlike many enterprise software contracts, the Terms carry no order form, no negotiated quantity and no licence-audit clause. A business that operates an organization on Proton must ensure that everyone with access to an account in it has read the Terms, and actions by those users can result in enforcement against the organization’s account.[1]
Editions
The Terms distinguish two kinds of plan for contract and tax purposes rather than naming editions. “Certain Proton subscription plans” are intended for companies, businesses and organizations, which covers the plans on the business plans page and the Workspace plans; all other plans are for consumers.[1] A subscriber to a business plan represents that it acts as a business, and a subscriber to any other plan represents that it acts as a consumer.[1]
The choice has legal effects. Business tax treatment, including the reverse charge mechanism and validation of VAT or GST numbers, is available only with business plans, and Proton does not apply it to consumer plans whatever the subscriber’s actual status.[1] A business subscriber also acknowledges that statutory consumer protections, including mandatory rights of withdrawal, cooling-off periods and consumer-specific warranty protections, do not apply to the subscription to the extent the law allows.[1] Plan contents are in Proton personal plans and bundles and Proton for Business plans and user licensing.
Metrics
The Terms count accounts. An organization account may have sub-users and invited users, and the delinquent-account rules refer to custom domains, sub-users and storage capacity.[1] The users, storage, addresses and domains permitted are set by the plan, not the Terms; see the catalog rows User (Proton for Business) and Storage.
Two Section 10 rules affect counting. Aliases can be created only on paid plans up to the plan limit, and only one alias per year can be deleted, except on custom domains.[1] And subscriptions and credits are linked to the account they were bought for and cannot be transferred to another account.[1]
Counting and floors
The Terms set no minimum number of users. Section 2 does list what may not be done with an account, and several items bear on licence compliance.[1]
- Sharing. Sharing an account or login credentials with any other person or entity is unauthorized, except where the subscription plan expressly permits it or Proton has authorized it in writing.
- Resale. Reselling, sublicensing or otherwise making the Services available to a third party is unauthorized unless the plan expressly permits it or Proton authorizes it in writing.
- Transfer. Trading, selling or otherwise transferring ownership of an account to a third party is unauthorized, except Lifetime Accounts, which can be sold or traded exclusively through Proton.
- Multiple free accounts. Operating a large number of free accounts for one organization or individual is unauthorized.
- Automated access. Automated access that is distinguishable from normal client behavior is unauthorized, though Section 2 permits automated access that stays indistinguishable from standard human-client traffic.
Any account found to be committing a listed activity is suspended or restricted immediately, and Proton may limit capacity for accounts whose resource use, such as bandwidth, is excessive.[1] Free accounts inactive for 12 consecutive months may be suspended or deleted after notices at 30, 15 and 7 days; accounts under an active paid subscription are always considered active.[1]
Virtualization and partitioning
There are no device, processor or virtualization rules. The structural limits are the account and the organization. Terms Section 13 sets governing law: business users anywhere and consumers outside the United States are governed by Swiss law, and the Terms consent to the courts of the Canton of Geneva, while US consumers face an arbitration agreement under the Federal Arbitration Act with an opt-out.[1] The Terms also state that the English version prevails over translations.[1]
Cloud and entitlement mechanics
Billing and renewal. Subscriptions are charged on a monthly, yearly or bi-yearly cycle, depending on the selection. After the initial term they renew automatically for the duration chosen at purchase unless the subscriber cancels or changes the plan. The renewal is charged at the then-current price, and to avoid renewal the subscriber must cancel before the renewal date in the account dashboard or through customer support.[1] Proton accepts payment cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Bitcoin, cash and bank transfer, with cash accepted in US dollars, euros or Swiss francs.[3] The business plans page lists cards, PayPal, Bitcoin, cash and bank transfers.[4]
Refunds. A subscription can be cancelled within 30 days of the initial purchase for a full refund. Both the cancellation and the refund request must fall within the 30 days, refunds can be requested once per user, and the option applies only to services bought directly through Proton’s website and apps. Payments made by cash or bank transfer are not refundable.[1] After 30 days the services are non-refundable, and any refund or credit is at Proton’s discretion. A paid account terminated for violating the Terms loses all payments and credits.[1] The business plans page advertises a 30-day money-back guarantee, and the 30-day refund window program row records the rule.[4]
Free trials for business plans. A business user may be eligible for a free trial. At the end of the trial the account becomes a paid subscription that renews automatically, unless the subscriber cancels before the trial ends. Each business user can cancel during a trial only once, and Proton may change eligible plans, change trial length or stop offering trials.[1]
Changing plans. Selecting a new paid plan updates the subscription immediately and a prorated credit for the unused part of the earlier plan is applied automatically. If a customer downgrades before the end of the period, the unused portion becomes account credit, and credit must be used within 24 months or it expires.[1] The Help Center adds that a downgrade after cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period and that a plan cannot be changed while an invoice is unpaid.[2] Increasing the billing cycle, for example from one month to one year, applies at the end of the current cycle.[1]
Notice for business VPN. For VPN Essentials, Business or Enterprise, a termination notice must be given at the latest 30 days before the renewal. A notice inside 30 days leaves the plan to renew for another term and end at the end of that term.[1] For other plans Proton does not remove paid features on the customer’s behalf, so a customer over a free-plan quota must remove paid features before downgrading.[1]
Delinquent accounts. A paid account that fails to pay may be downgraded to Free. If it exceeds Free limits, it enters a delinquent restricted state. A storage-exceeding account cannot receive email, send email with attachments, create calendar events or upload files, and an organization account loses its custom domains while sub-users are restricted and invited users are separated. Proton may delete accounts in that state, and their data, after 12 months. Subscribing to a paid tier covering the features in use, or removing the excess, ends the state.[1] See Delinquent restricted state.
Proration of seat changes. The Help Center states that removed users earn a prorated credit based on the time remaining, and that proration applies only when the change is made from the Primary Admin account; changes made from another admin account are charged at full price.[5][6]
Service level and liability. Proton aims for 99.95 percent availability and credits 10 percent of the monthly cost for uptime between 99.0 and 99.95 percent and 30 percent below 99.0 percent, on request and against the next billing cycle. The Dedicated IP feature of VPN Business and Enterprise is excluded from the service level.[1] Total liability is capped at USD 100 or the amount the user paid, whichever is greater.[1]
Changes to the Terms. Proton may change the Terms at any time; continued use, including not deleting the account, is consent.[1]
Programs
- Business free trial: conversion to paid unless cancelled; one cancellation per business user.
- 30-day refund window: once per user, direct purchases only.
- Inactive free account policy: 12 months with notices at 30, 15 and 7 days.
- Referral program: inviting a third party may earn credits or extra features at Proton’s discretion, and referring oneself is unauthorized.[1]
Out of scope
This article does not cover the Privacy Policy, the data processing agreement that applies when Proton processes personal data for a customer who is a data controller, the arbitration procedure in detail, or the terms for Proton Wallet and Lumo. Purchases through a third party follow that party’s refund policy, which the Terms say applies instead of Proton’s.[1]