Brave Browser + ProtonVPN + Bitwarden: The best security combo for desktop

Imagine your desktop as a private fortress, where no advertiser can profile you, no internet service provider can track you, no data broker can collect login credentials, and no surveillance network knows you exist. It would be difficult to find a perfect solution. Or is there a near-perfect one? Brave + ProtonVPN + Bitwarden offers the best security combination currently available to the average computer user.

 

Why Brave + ProtonVPN + Bitwarden offer the best overall privacy

The Brave + ProtonVPN + Bitwarden security trio offers the perfect balance and provides you with the best layer of protection. This isn't exaggerated advertising; it's based on my personal experience using this trio on a Windows 11 Pro device.

 

Of course, there are other strong alternatives in all these areas. NordVPN , ExpressVPN , Firefox , Opera, and KeePass are prime examples. However, there's a big reason why the combination of Brave browser, ProtonVPN, and Bitwarden can give you the privacy you desire.

 

All three solutions are designed with the same philosophy: transparency, minimal data collection, and user control over business profits. None of the three providers sell user data, and all three are regularly audited by third parties, with full reporting.

Firstly, ProtonVPN is actually one of the very few VPN providers that is completely open source and regularly audited by a third party. Most large commercial VPNs have closed-source code in their backends. Additionally, Proton operates under Swiss law, meaning they will refuse to record any useful information, even if a court in your country requests user data.

Similarly, the Brave browser is built on the open-source Chromium Web Core platform, with the client code released under the Mozilla 2.0 Public License.

You could make a similar argument about Firefox, but Brave requires far less configuration skill. You simply add the ProtonVPN and Bitwarden extensions to the Brave browser workflow, just like you would with Google Chrome. You'll get comparable performance to Chrome in most cases. On Windows 11 devices, Brave performs better than the default Edge browser.

 

Additionally, Brave comes with robust tracking protection by default and removes all Google telemetry data . Finally, Bitwarden is the only password manager that offers audited repositories, end-to-end encryption, passkey support, and is very easy to use for beginners.

All solutions are free to use, with minimal additional purchase incentives.
Browsing with full privacy without compromising speed should be considered a fundamental right. You shouldn't have to spend a penny to get that level of reliability and performance.

Unfortunately, most good VPNs are commercial. At the same time, many people aren't fans of free VPNs. If they're not targeting your money, they'll want something else, and that's not a good thing.

ProtonVPN is one of the rare exceptions. Even as a free user, it still offers unlimited web browsing without data limits or speed reductions. The only drawback is that you have to accept whichever server Proton chooses, and you can only use one server at a time.

 

Besides ProtonVPN, Brave and Bitwarden also offer completely free usage, with minimal upfront purchase incentives. None of these programs will cause any disruptions related to upfront purchases during web browsing.

The three layers of security complement each other.

Once you start using ProtonVPN and Bitwarden on Brave, you'll be surprised at how complementary these two solutions are. Essentially, each solution addresses a different layer of security for desktop users without creating any new vulnerabilities.

Here's a simple example of how it works. Brave offers built-in HTTPS upgrades and fingerprint protection to keep you safe from all phishing websites and malware. This is complemented by ProtonVPN's Secure Core servers, which are security-enhanced servers located in privacy-friendly EU countries.

 

Bitwarden adds an important layer of security by securely managing and encrypting your passwords and passkeys. Even if trackers or attackers bypass Brave and ProtonVPN's protections, your login credentials will remain inaccessible. Your storage will be locked in case of emergency, and brute-force attacks on Bitwarden's master password will be impossible .