Proton is setting its sights on big tech companies with its new Office suite and video conferencing app

Is there life after Microsoft, Google and Zoom? Broughton says yes. The Swiss company on Tuesday launched Workspace, an office suite that puts all its “privacy-first services,” including VPN, email, document creation and a new video conferencing tool, under one roof.

The company said It’s a way for companies to “break free of dependency on Big Tech and regain full control of their data.” Workspace is an alternative to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, which also have the same types of software tools, but use customer data for different purposes.

The introduction of Proton Workspace comes nearly four years after its launch Unlimited protonwhich is a subscription package that includes VPN, email, and document creation tools, but is cheaper and designed more for non-business consumers.

Although Microsoft and Google dominate the office software market… This represents more than 95% combined worldwide -There are more and more alternatives. LibreOffice Free (And we loved it), there’s also Zoho, OnlyOffice, FreeOffice, and CryptPad, to name a few. Andy Yen, founder and CEO of Proton, said companies are leaning more towards adopting “ecosystems” rather than individual products and services.

“We’re hearing more from customers, especially those concerned about Big Tech’s data practices, that they want a secure, aggregated alternative that matches the ease of migration and integration with Google or Microsoft, but without the privacy trade-offs,” Yin said in a press release.

What’s in the Proton Workspace?

There are two versions of Proton Workspace. The standard suite includes Proton Mail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Meet (video conferencing), VPN, and Pass (Password manager) and costs $15 per user per month (pay monthly) or $156 per year per user, saving you about $2 per month per user for a monthly subscription. The annual plan breaks down to $13 per user per month, billed annually. The Premium version includes standard features but also expanded storage, email retention policies, higher participant limits per call for Meet and Lumo — the AI ​​assistant — and costs $240 per user per year or $25 per user per month.

CNET senior editor Mo Long has looked at a lot of Proton’s software and says it’s a solid alternative to Google and Microsoft for the average person. He said he would try the free version of Proton Meet offered by the company Also fired Tuesday.

“I appreciate the focus on privacy and transparency that doesn’t sacrifice ease of use,” Long said. “Proton’s list of apps provides an alternative to Google and Microsoft for the average person. Since I personally strive to stay away from big tech companies as much as possible, Proton has a diverse and compelling set of tools, from a VPN and password manager to a Gmail and Google Drive alternative, that have a lot of potential.”

Although Workspace is the new umbrella name for Proton’s office suite, most of the tools were already there, including email, cloud storage, a password manager, VPN (Reviewed by CNET).

A major new entrant to the party is Proton Meet, which allows for secure, encrypted video conferencing. The company said the Meet app does not require login, even for those who do not have a Proton account, and meeting appointments can be integrated with Microsoft or Google calendars.

Proton said its workspace tools End-to-end encryption and Access-free encryptionso the company can’t access your data — and neither can any hacker. Proton also said that, as a European-based company, it cannot be forced to hand over data to the US government via… US Cloud Act. Proton also said it does not use customer data for AI training.

What about unlimited proton?

For non-commercial consumers, Proton Unlimited may be a better option. Gives you unlimited access Proton mail, VPN, calendar, Driving, passes and wallet. You can also use the free version of Meet, although there are limits on call length (1 hour) and participants (50). Likewise, you can access the free version of Proton’s Lumo chatbot, but the Plus plan costs you $13 per month per user or $120 per year per user.

Unlimited proton It costs $120 per year.