Close to-total privateness with a number of sacrifices

Mullvad, a digital personal community (VPN) named after the Swedish phrase for “mole,” is usually acknowledged as top-of-the-line VPNs for privateness. I put it on my finest VPN listing for precisely that motive. I’ve received large respect for the additional lengths Mullvad goes to as a way to guarantee its person’s privateness.

To offer you a preview, Mullvad is without doubt one of the few VPNs — apart from my regular privateness advice, Proton VPN — that lets customers pay solely in money. However even Proton VPN asks for an e-mail handle to make an account and makes use of a number of advertising and marketing cookies by itself web site. Mullvad represents each account as a randomly generated 16-digit code and makes use of no advertising and marketing cookies by any means.

That is only one instance of how Mullvad goes past the decision of responsibility to maintain customers personal. However whereas privateness is a very powerful facet of a VPN alongside safety, it is not the one factor that issues. For this evaluation, I got down to examine whether or not Mullvad pairs its rights-protecting bonafides with versatile, handy and pleasing VPN apps. Utilizing our rigorous VPN testing process, I am going to price Mullvad in 11 areas. You could find a abstract of my leads to the desk under, skip to the sections that matter most to you or simply learn my last recommendation within the conclusion.

Editor’s notice (2/11/26): We have overhauled our VPN protection to supply extra detailed, actionable shopping for recommendation. Going ahead, we’ll proceed to replace each our finest VPN listing and particular person critiques (like this one) as circumstances change. Most not too long ago, we added official scores to all of our VPN critiques. Try how we check VPNs to be taught extra concerning the new requirements we’re utilizing.

Mullvad

A VPN with common speeds and options however an incredible pricing scheme and no compromises on anonymity.

Execs

• Can join with none private data and pay in money
• Saves no information by any means on customers, even by itself web site
• Wonderful apps on all OSes

Cons

• WireGuard is the one protocol
• Disappointing browser extension
• No stay chat help

Findings at a look

Putting in, configuring and utilizing Mullvad

Let’s begin by inspecting how Mullvad feels as a chunk of software program. On this part, I will be testing its desktop apps for Home windows and Mac, its cellular apps for Android and iOS and its browser extension for Firefox. To start out with the set up course of, Mullvad downloads and installs in a snap on cellular. On desktop, set up requires a number of extra steps than is typical, however the app guides you rapidly by the whole lot.

Throughout the board, my solely severe criticism is that there is not any possibility for mechanically selecting the quickest server. You possibly can often assume that the closest one to you may be the quickest, however there’s all the time the possibility of an uncommon server overload. It is a weird oversight for an app that in any other case goes out of its approach to be usable.

Home windows

Mullvad’s Home windows app has a slim UI that makes use of area effectively with out being too cramped. It does not offer you quite a lot of data, reminiscent of stay pace exams or information in transit, however I’ve largely discovered that to be unnecessary filler on VPN apps.

Talking of unnecessary filler, the map could also be a bit larger than it must be, however maps on VPN purchasers aren’t nearly instructing you geography — they do quite a bit to make the apps extra welcoming to informal customers who may not in any other case fireplace up safety software program. In reality, Mullvad’s UI is admirably beginner-friendly, befitting its concentrate on privateness for everyone relatively than simply the tech-savvy.

All of the settings are accessed by clicking the gear within the top-right. Right here, you possibly can activate DAITA (Mullvad’s protection towards AI visitors scanning), activate multihop and management Mullvad’s different options. There are additionally some quality-of-life options for the UI itself, reminiscent of whether or not it stays pinned to the taskbar or operates as a standalone window. Some choices, particularly below the VPN settings tab, are a bit technical, however do not must be touched for a very good expertise.

Mac

Mullvad’s macOS app is sort of just like its Home windows app, each when it comes to the interface and the options provided. The massive distinction was once that macOS lacked cut up tunneling, however that is been added in a current replace. The one severe distinction now’s that the Mac consumer cannot be unpinned from the taskbar, which is just a bit bothersome.

Aside from that, you will discover each setting you want below the gear, identical to on Home windows. Equally, connections to VPN servers occur rapidly, and choosing places from the menu may be very easy. Whereas related on both app, you possibly can click on the round arrow by your location to swap to a different server in the identical location — extremely handy should you’re making an attempt to unblock Netflix.

Android

Mullvad’s Android app has the identical nearly-perfect design strategy as all its different apps. The principle web page has nothing on it however the join/disconnect button, the selection of server places, a map and the buttons in your account data and preferences. These preferences are a manageable set of choices which can be virtually all managed with easy on-off switches. It is all extremely responsive and annoyance-free.

iOS

Mullvad’s iOS app seems similar to its apps on each different platform. The entrance web page is stored easy, with massive controls within the foreground and a map taking on many of the area. All the things else is situated within the menu accessed by the gear icon at high proper. Neither cellular app has the choices for toggling the UI itself that the desktop apps have, but it surely’s largely freed from quality-of-life issues to start out with.

Browser extensions

Mullvad’s browser extension is just suitable with Firefox. You possibly can’t really connect with the VPN by this extension. Its principal features are to let you know whether or not you are related to a Mullvad server and to connect with a SOCKS5 proxy in a Mullvad location. When you do that whereas related to Mullvad by the desktop app, you will get a second layer of safety, just like the multi-hop characteristic.

The Firefox extension is a uncommon misfire for Mullvad — maybe honest, because it’s nonetheless in beta. Its solely actual characteristic is one thing that the desktop app already does completely nicely, and it seems like a software program malfunction in addition. Nevertheless, given Mullvad’s observe document, I am assured they will determine what to do with it in time.

Mullvad pace check

A VPN virtually all the time slows shopping speeds and will increase latencies. It is unavoidable, given the additional steps a VPN protocol provides to the method of getting on-line. The trick is to seek out VPNs that hold the slowdown to a minimal, utilizing a mix of normal upkeep, good planning and good load balancing.

For this check, I used speedtest.web to test how six of Mullvad’s server places influenced three key pace metrics. Ping measures latency, the time in milliseconds (ms) that one information packet must journey between a consumer machine and an ISP. Obtain pace measures the quantity of knowledge in Megabits that an internet browser can obtain in a single second. Add pace tracks how a lot information may be uploaded in a second. We’re searching for low latencies and excessive obtain and add speeds.

I am going to begin with the unhealthy information: the exams did not precisely make Mullvad seem like a pace demon. Its speeds have gone up and down within the years I have been utilizing it, and proper now they seem like on the downswing. When you use places throughout Mullvad’s server community, you possibly can count on your obtain speeds to lower by about 26 % and your add speeds to say no by 17 %.

Nevertheless, it is vital to place these numbers in perspective. First, Mullvad’s numbers aren’t markedly worse than those I received when testing CyberGhost. Its speeds are common, however by definition, most issues are common. Its common worldwide latency is definitely higher than Surfshark, the present champion of obtain and add speeds.

It is also good that Mullvad’s pace drops observe a predictable curve. A lot of VPNs have unexpectedly sharp declines in sure places, incessantly in Africa. In contrast, Mullvad’s pace decreases just about as a direct operate of how removed from the server you’re. This not solely makes pace drops simpler to plan round, but in addition means you possibly can count on superb speeds on close by servers.

This property of being quickest on servers close to the person is one other signal of Mullvad’s concentrate on its core privateness mission. If anonymity is your principal motive for utilizing a VPN, it does not matter what your IP handle is, as long as it is not your actual one. Utilizing a close-by Mullvad server ought to assure you an web connection that is each quick and personal.

Mullvad safety check

To be safe, a VPN has to test two vital packing containers. It should offer you a secondary IP handle with out leaking your actual one, and it should encrypt your communications with its servers so your exercise cannot be traced. Within the sections under, I am going to see whether or not Mullvad meets these necessities.

VPN protocols

VPNs use protocols to mediate between finish units, ISPs and their very own servers. Step one is to make sure that the service you are contemplating makes use of protocols which have knowledgeable confidence. Mullvad has kindly made this step straightforward for me by utilizing solely WireGuard on all its apps, with no OpenVPN, IKEv2 or in-house distinctive protocols.

There is no query that WireGuard is a strong protocol. It makes use of the ChaCha20 stream cipher for symmetric encryption and Poly1305 for authentication, each uncrackable with present expertise. Mullvad has even added its personal repair for WireGuard’s one flaw, its want to avoid wasting static IP addresses — the Mullvad implementation is ready as much as delete the IP handle if it goes 10 minutes with out getting used.

Even so, it is unlucky to lose the flexibility to alter protocols, which is without doubt one of the commonest steps for troubleshooting a VPN connection. I perceive Mullvad’s reasoning for slicing out OpenVPN (it claims the cryptography is not robust sufficient) however do not agree. It is one in every of this supplier’s few unforced errors.

Leak check

There is a easy check to find out in case your VPN is leaking. Load up any web site that exhibits your IP handle — I personally use ipleak.web — and see what IP and placement it reveals with out your VPN energetic. Then activate the VPN and refresh the web page. When you see your actual IP handle anyplace, your VPN is leaking.

I ran that check on 5 Mullvad servers. Every time, the web site confirmed me the IP handle of the VPN server, concealing my actual one. To maintain issues easy, I ran the preliminary exams with IPv6 blocked by way of the Mullvad consumer. Once I turned it on and tried once more, the IPv6 visitors did not leak any greater than the IPv4 did. I additionally noticed no indicators of WebRTC leaks. Except you arrange a customized DNS server, Mullvad additionally makes use of its personal DNS, which stays solely inside the VPN tunnel.

I had another leak check to strive. Regularly, VPNs are leak-proof when sustaining a connection to at least one server however drop encryption when switching between servers. That downside is why I in the end could not advocate Norton VPN. Fortunately for me, Mullvad has a button that allows you to shuffle to a different server in the identical location, so I used that to see if it stayed leak-proof.

As you possibly can see within the screenshot, Mullvad jumped seamlessly from one server to a different with out exhibiting my actual location in-between. On a sensible degree, that is sufficient for me to declare Mullvad leak-proof.

Encryption check

For one last experiment, I used the WireShark packet sniffer to see whether or not the information Mullvad despatched from my pc to my ISP was encrypted. After capturing a number of packets, I used to be gratified to see that they have been completely unreadable to interlopers. Most established VPNs go this check, but it surely’s nonetheless vital for due diligence.

How a lot does Mullvad value?

Mullvad’s pricing construction is without doubt one of the most uncommon issues about it. That is usually the part the place I untangle 47 totally different Professional+ and Enterprise- accounts which can be all bought at three totally different durations. Mullvad could not be farther from that. It prices 5 Euro a month — that’s it. Every 5-Euro subscription can be utilized on 5 units directly.

It manages funds by a system impressed by parking meters. Once you join Mullvad, you will purchase as a lot time as you need. That point will rely down till it expires, except you high it up with extra 5-Euro funds. When you run out of cash, Mullvad will not cost you a brand new subscription payment since you did not inform it to not. It’s going to simply cease working till you pay once more. Each cost additionally comes with a 14-day money-back assure, apart from funds made in money.

The one actual complexity within the course of is that Mullvad all the time figures out its costs in Euro, so outdoors the EU, the associated fee per thirty days is affected by alternate charges. When you occur to stay in a rustic the place the federal government’s financial coverage shuttles between capricious and arbitrary, you would possibly need to seize a number of months upfront.

The opposite most attention-grabbing factor about Mullvad’s pricing is the choices you should utilize to pay. For max privateness, you possibly can pay with money utilizing the cost token you will discover in your account web page. Notice that this isn’t the identical as your account quantity. To search out it, log into your dashboard on Mullvad.web, click on Add time to your account within the left-hand bar, then click on the button labeled Money and scroll down. Make your money cost by writing the token on an envelope and mailing it to Sweden (full directions right here).

You may as well get untraceable Mullvad vouchers by paying money at taking part retail places. Most of them are in Europe, however you possibly can get them organized from Amazon. Whereas your cost to Amazon will not be personal, the voucher cannot be linked on to your VPN account, for the reason that precise quantity is hidden behind a scratch-off panel. It is really fairly ingenious.

After all, you can even pay utilizing any of the conventional strategies, together with bank cards, cryptocurrency and financial institution wires (although not PayPal). However the extra personal strategies are all the time there for individuals who want them.

Mullvad facet apps and bundles

Mullvad is that uncommon VPN that is nonetheless content material to be a VPN and never an all-inclusive safety suite. No shade to NordVPN or Surfshark, whose additional options are usually fairly good, but it surely’s good to see at the very least one of many high suppliers staying centered.

Though Mullvad does not have any companions that promote their merchandise alongside its VPN, it does have a number of partnerships with different VPNs who use its community as the idea for their very own merchandise. MalwareBytes Privateness VPN, Mozilla VPN, Tailscale and Obscura can all be thought of Mullvad facet apps should you squint.

Mullvad Browser

Mullvad’s solely product apart from the VPN is Mullvad Browser, which is free to obtain and works on Home windows, macOS and Linux. Mullvad Browser works within the background, blocking frequent strategies of browser fingerprinting that can be utilized to infer your id even when you will have a VPN working.

For instance, it mechanically reviews your time zone as UTC, disguises private preferences like font and window dimension, scrambles data despatched by APIs and conceals your browser model and pc working system. It is also in personal mode by default, which does not cover what your ISP sees however is helpful for concealing your exercise from different individuals that may use your pc.

Shut-reading Mullvad’s privateness coverage

Since privateness is Mullvad’s principal promoting level, this part is much more vital than standard. Loopholes within the privateness coverage of the privateness VPN could be deeply ironic. Thankfully, Mullvad’s privateness coverage backs up its high-flying rhetoric. It is a brief, pointed and readable doc with no issues I might discern. Mullvad has no dad or mum firm or subsidiary it would use as a loophole, and no clauses in its coverage are left open to interpretation. It is a masterpiece of the privacy-policy style.

The doc is definitely three insurance policies: a privateness coverage, a no-logging coverage and a cookie coverage. The privateness coverage lists all of the occasions Mullvad would possibly accumulate information a couple of person. That is precisely two conditions — utilizing monetary data to course of funds (which shall be solely nameless should you use money or a voucher) and utilizing your e-mail handle to trace help tickets you open. That is it.

The no-logging coverage is a bit longer, however largely as a result of it is explaining precisely how Mullvad manages to run a VPN service with so little data on particular person customers. For every account, it shops a quantity and an expiration date, plus public keys and tunnel addresses should you’re utilizing WireGuard (deleted at most 10 minutes after your session ends). All the things else is totally anonymized. Mullvad even claims that its 500,000 or so person accounts might have been created by the identical person 500,000 occasions, which I suppose is one approach to spend 2.5 million Euro.

The cookie coverage is the shortest as a result of Mullvad makes use of precisely 5 cookies. One saves your login standing in your browser, one saves your language preferences, one protects its website from being utilized in a particular type of forgery hack and the opposite two are for dealing with Stripe funds.

Impartial privateness audits

Mullvad corroborates its privateness coverage with common audits of varied elements of its service. Presently, there are 17 audits listed on its web site, together with 4 infrastructure audits by Cure53. All of its apps have been individually audited and located to be strong. It has been a few years for the reason that final full infrastructure audit in 2024, however given what number of different focused critiques Mullvad has gone by since then, it is exhausting to be too upset concerning the pause.

In 2023, Mullvad achieved the holy grail of VPN privateness: being ordered by subpoena to show over buyer data and never with the ability to comply as a result of that data did not exist. Nothing compares to a VPN’s privateness being examined within the wild like this.

Can Mullvad change your digital location?

Typically, a VPN seems to be working, however nonetheless reveals your actual location to web sites. Netflix is a helpful proxy for this. To unblock a streaming website like Netflix, a VPN wants to alter your digital location whereas not showing to take action — if Netflix sees any trace of VPN visitors, you will get blocked with the hated proxy error. I used 5 totally different places to test whether or not Mullvad is as much as the streaming job.

Mullvad did nicely for streaming, but it surely did not handle an ideal rating like its fellow anti-establishment VPN Windscribe did. Two of the 15 servers I examined did not unblock Netflix, one in Singapore and one in Mullvad’s hometown of Gothenburg. I additionally had bother logging into Netflix whereas related to a Vancouver server, although that server did unblock the location constantly as soon as I received inside.

In Mullvad’s protection, no location failed greater than as soon as. It is fully potential to get good streaming efficiency out of this VPN; you simply need to be prepared to click on the server refresh button a number of occasions. Privateness remains to be the primary use case for Mullvad, but it surely’s high quality for streaming too.

Investigating Mullvad’s server community

Mullvad has 90 server places in 50 nations and territories. Unusually for a VPN, customers can select between all 590 of its complete servers, together with a number of in every location. There’s even a listing on its web site that exhibits you the standing of each server.

Mullvad doesn’t use digital server places, so each server is bodily situated within the place the place it claims to be. Here is how they’re distributed.

Over half the nations with servers are in Europe and over two-thirds of the cities with servers are in both Europe or North America. That lopsided community is a limitation of Mullvad’s refusal to make use of digital server places, since its actual servers need to be concentrated in nations developed sufficient to host information facilities. With an all-real community, it is simpler to inform which servers provides you with the quickest efficiency, however you possibly can’t simulate as a lot of the world as you possibly can with bigger providers like ExpressVPN.

The excellent news is that there is at the very least two actual server places on each continent. Mullvad has a surprisingly strong presence in South America and two bare-metal servers in Africa, which is greater than another VPNs have. In the long run, although, the very best software of Mullvad is to guard the web privateness of customers in North America, Europe and jap Asia.

Additional options of Mullvad

Most of Mullvad’s options are augmentations to the VPN itself, relatively than facet choices that do different issues. A few of them are bread-and-butter, just like the kill swap and cut up tunneling, however a number of you will not discover anyplace else. Notice beforehand that Mullvad doesn’t help port forwarding, so should you depend upon that in your torrenting, strive one other VPN.

DAITA AI defenses

Mullvad’s most novel characteristic is a current one. DAITA, which stands for Defense towards AI-guided Traffic Analysis, may be toggled on and off within the Mullvad app. In line with Mullvad, sure patterns in how browsers talk with web sites may be analyzed by AI to disclose the reality behind encrypted web historical past. DAITA hides these packets by filling communications with background noise so the AI will not know what’s actual.

DAITA is a laudably forward-looking characteristic, however as Mullvad itself admits, it would make your shopping speeds slower and drain your battery. I like to recommend solely utilizing it for actions you actually need to cover.

Quantum resistance

Mullvad’s desktop apps set up quantum-proof WireGuard tunnels by default. Quantum computing is not but a risk to WireGuard, however it might grow to be harmful sooner or later, so Mullvad is getting forward of the issue (together with a number of different providers like NordVPN). When quantum resistance is energetic, Mullvad encapsulates its keys utilizing the present customary mechanism, ML-KEM.

Anti-censorship

If you end up in a rustic the place authorities censorship makes it exhausting to entry the web, Mullvad has choices that may assist. These anti-censorship options can be utilized to get round firewalls that block seen VPN visitors. You’ve got a number of choices, together with altering your WireGuard port, randomizing your port quantity, disguising your VPN visitors as an odd HTTPS connection or utilizing an obfuscated Shadowsocks proxy.

Mullvad’s anti-censorship includes extra options than most VPNs have on this space. This makes it a bit much less user-friendly, however much more prone to work. When you’re new to getting round censorship, Mullvad’s assist heart has a useful web page about utilizing its anti-censor settings.

Multihop

Many VPNs supply a double-hop connection that routes your visitors by two servers as a substitute of 1, including a redundant layer of encryption in case one server malfunctions. Mullvad pulls forward of the competitors (besides Surfshark, which additionally does this) by permitting you to decide on your entry and exit servers. Once you activate the multihop possibility and open the server listing, you will be prompted to select two places as a substitute of 1.

This implies you possibly can choose an entry server that is near you and an exit server in any nation whose location you need to spoof, letting you fine-tune your personal efficiency. It is means nicer than being railroaded into sure paths.

DNS content material blockers

Mullvad consists of six blocklists that may hold you or your loved ones members from undesirable content material: advertisements, trackers, malware, playing, grownup content material and social media. These lists cannot be personalized like Windscribe’s R.O.B.E.R.T. blocks can, so that you’re restricted to only turning them on and off.

IPv6 help

The web is step by step transitioning from the previous IPv4 customary over to IPv6, which can enable many extra addresses to be shared out. Mullvad is one of some VPNs waiting for the IPv6 period. You possibly can go away it to dam all IPv6 visitors, however should you do want IPv6 for any motive, you possibly can allow it whereas nonetheless being related to a Mullvad server.

Kill swap and lockdown mode

Mullvad comes with two options that shield towards unexpectedly shedding your VPN defenses. The primary is a kill swap, a typical VPN possibility that cuts off web entry if the VPN tunnel ever fails. This straightforward measure helps guard towards unintended leaks.

Lockdown mode is the stronger possibility. Whereas it is energetic, you may be unable to get on the web except you connect with a Mullvad server first. This can stay true should you flip the connection off your self and even should you stop the app.

Cut up tunneling

Cut up tunneling is obtainable on Mullvad’s apps for each system besides iOS. It permits you to ship some apps outdoors the VPN tunnel in order that they get on-line along with your regular IP handle. It is useful in case you have some apps that do not work with the VPN energetic — that is frequent with on-line banking, for instance. One other frequent software is to guard a torrenting consumer within the background whereas utilizing your browser unprotected for higher speeds.

Mullvad buyer help choices

Mullvad makes two types of help accessible within the app. You possibly can report an issue by going to Settings -> Help -> Report an issue, typing your query (requested to be in both English or Swedish, although they’d in all probability have the ability to learn a query run by Google Translate) and optionally offering your e-mail. You may as well view the app’s logs at any time, which may be helpful to assist a technician diagnose your downside.

When you’d relatively seek for an answer at your personal tempo, you possibly can go to that very same web page and click on FAQs and Guides as a substitute. This opens the assistance heart in a browser.

I like Mullvad’s strategy to laying out its FAQs. As a substitute of crowding matters into 5 – 6 classes and making you guess whether or not your downside falls below setup, utilization or troubleshooting, Mullvad offers you a set of dropdown filters to slim down the articles which could relate to your downside.

By the point you have named which machine, OS and protocol you are coping with, you gained’t have many articles left to sift by. There may be an annoying tendency for sure units of filters to scale back the variety of surfaced hyperlinks to zero, however for these instances, there is a search bar that additionally works nicely.

The articles themselves are ok that I referred to them a number of occasions whereas scripting this evaluation. A few of them are a bit overlong, however they’re diligent about together with each inner and exterior hyperlinks to get you the place you are going quick.

Stay help expertise

That is usually the place I cowl the way it feels to get stay chat help from the VPN I am reviewing. Nevertheless, Mullvad does not have stay chat help. That is unlucky, though it is nonetheless higher than Windscribe’s strategy of forcing you to banter with a sarcastic robotic. As a substitute, I despatched a query by way of e-mail to Mullvad’s help staff, and received a response inside 24 hours.

Mullvad background test

Mullvad was based in 2009 in Sweden. It is nonetheless owned and operated by its authentic founders. In line with an in depth timeline on its web site, its 16-year historical past has been as uneventful as any person might ask for, with not a lot altering besides updates to remain on the technological forefront. The one controversy talked about in Mullvad’s personal supplies is the 2023 police raid of its headquarters, which (as I coated within the privateness part) solely makes them look higher.

In order to not take Mullvad at its phrase, I scoured the final 16 years of stories gadgets and person reviews to seek for another blemishes on its document. Primarily based on that analysis, I discovered no motive to doubt Mullvad’s honesty about its location, homeowners or staff.

I discovered only one leak that wasn’t famous on Mullvad’s personal website. In 2023, a safety analysis group referred to as ZATAZ alleged that it discovered anonymized data on Mullvad customers saved on an Web Archive web page, together with account numbers (linked article is in French). In line with ZATAZ, Mullvad contacted the Archive and received the web page deleted.

To my thoughts, the one mistake Mullvad made in response to the ZATAZ allegations was not making a public assertion concerning the incident. I can see why they did not suppose it was a giant deal, since even logging into another person’s Mullvad account would not present you their shopping historical past, but it surely’s all the time higher to speak about this stuff.

Remaining verdict

Mullvad is a VPN that is aware of what it desires to be and achieves that aim with flying colours. It is not making an attempt to be an the whole lot app — it does privateness and does it nicely. That is to not say it has nothing occurring outdoors the VPN itself, as its DNS blockers, AI defenses and cut up tunneling all work easily. However if you’d like a VPN that is not ashamed to be a VPN, Mullvad is the correct alternative.

After all, it has its personal compromises. It is solidly in the course of the pace pack and sometimes journeys up when unblocking streaming websites. The dearth of any protocols apart from WireGuard grates on me a bit, because it reduces the person’s choices for troubleshooting. With all that mentioned, these are minor hiccups on a VPN that does such a radical job retaining you nameless on-line.