Proton doesn't really support anonymous payments. Let's demand that they do

Proton_Team:

This was a mistake from our Customer Support agents, whom appear to have been misinformed at the time – sorry about that.

[…]

Legal department was never asked to reach out to ProxyStore to take down the vouchers, as we were the ones directly supplying PS with these. I can only apologize for the lengthy back-and-forth you had with our CS team, which must have been quite confusing.

I appreciate the apology, because indeed, it was very confusing.

Proton_Team:

Unfortunately we had some delays in getting back to them with additional stock, and resupplied in March 2026 – we will be better at supplying them on time moving forward, and we apologise for the gaps in time during which stock was out.

I want to stress that none of this was deliberate.

Thank you for the clarification. I’m glad to know it was not deliberate, because the Proxy Store is a great champion of privacy that allows many people to pay for various privacy services anonymously. They are not your typical reseller, which is why I hope more privacy services support them and that more privacy-friendly resellers like them emerge across the world.

Proton_Team:

You should now be able to renew your ongoing subscription with the vouchers provided by ProxyStore – i.e. if you had a 12 month voucher, you could stack another 12 month voucher on top of it at any time before it runs out.

This is a step in the right direction but I am still a little confused, as it’s unclear if this solves all the issues I raised regarding these vouchers. I would appreciate some clarifications with answers to the following questions.

VOUCHERS VS. CREDIT

Do Proton vouchers in the Proxy Store now work like credit, i.e., the same way Proton gift cards do?

Because if they don’t, a lot of Proton users are still left out.

As I mentioned in my original post, many Proton users have lifetime discounts. They may pay €12/year for Proton Pass or are on a discounted 2-year plan for Proton Mail Plus.

Can people who are on lifetime discounts renew their subscriptions with a Proton voucher from the Proxy Store?

This would mean that they would not lose their lifetime discounts.

If it’s not possible, then the problem is not solved.

And if it is possible, you should also appreciate that people who are on lifetime discounts may not wish or be able to afford paying for a voucher that costs 2 to 5 times the price of their subscription. This is why gift cards in smaller amounts, like the ones you have for $20, are extremely useful.

You specifically mentioned people whose subscriptions are paid for via vouchers and who are renewing those subscriptions with another voucher.

What about people who have never bought a voucher and who have ongoing subscriptions that are paid for with a credit card? Can they redeem a voucher to renew their subscription?

Many people who pay for their Proton subscription via KYC methods would like to change that.

STACKED SUBSCRIPTIONS VS. CREDIT

You mentioned stacked subscription, but it is unclear if we have the same understanding of what it means.

Please confirm if we do.

To my knowledge, a stacked subscription is when you extend your subscription in advance. So if you have an ongoing one-year subscription that is about to expire, and you pay for three 12-month vouchers (3 x 12), you extend your subscription by 3 years in advance. This means your subscription expires in 3 years, and nothing will change that.

It is my understanding that many services do not allow stacked subscriptions because they don’t want their users to extend their subscriptions in advance, in case they decide to increase their price.

This is where credit comes in.

Some services, like Tuta, won’t allow stacked subscriptions for the same service. Meaning they won’t let you pay 3 x €36 to extend your Revolutionary Tuta Mail subscription by 3 years in advance. However, they will allow you to buy 3 x €36 of credit and add it to your account.

If their yearly price never changes during that period (€36/year), you are covered for the next 3 years, and your subscription will be automatically renewed. But if they do decide to increase the price to, say, €40/year, you will have to top up before the end of your 2nd year because you won’t have enough credit to automatically renew your subscription for a 3rd time.

Which scenario do Proton vouchers in the Proxy Store fit?