Mullvad VPN review: Still our favorite ultra-private VPN

Price When Reviewed

$5.37 monthly

Best Prices Today: Mullvad

Mullvad VPN in short:

• P2P allowed: Yes
• Device connections: 5 simultaneous connections
• Business location: Sweden
• Number of servers: 650+
• Number of nation places: 41
• Cost: $5.37 monthly

Sweden-based Mullvad is just like the Swiss Bank account of VPNs — it doesn’t ask questions and offers you one of the best privateness and safety potential. 

When I say that Mullvad takes your privateness critically, I imply it. Unlike different VPNs, Mullvad doesn’t connect your account to an e mail handle; the corporate auto-generates an account quantity for you, which is all that’s required to log in. And this degree of anonymity goes nicely past simply registration, permeating all the pieces you do with the app.

Since our final evaluate the service has undergone an impartial safety audit additional cementing its place as one of the crucial reliable VPNs available on the market.

What are Mullvad VPN’s options and companies?

Sam Singleton

Sam Singleton

Sam Singleton

When you open Mullvad’s Windows app it strikes one as fashionable and clear, and really very similar to a Windows Store app. It begins with a non-interactive map within the major part of the window to indicate which location you’re related to, or your default location on the nation degree.

Towards the underside of the app display screen you’ll discover a button displaying your at present chosen VPN server and beneath {that a} Secure my connection button, which you’ll click on to connect with the server.

When related, you’ll see a Switch location and Disconnect button on the backside of the window. The prime of the display screen, in the meantime, exhibits a inexperienced banner with the Mullvad VPN emblem, indicating you’re related.

Sam Singleton

Sam Singleton

Sam Singleton

If you leap into the nation listings, you may both choose a rustic, choose a selected location throughout the nation if a couple of is on the market, and drill all the way down to particular person servers. The app doesn’t present any particular metrics about every server reminiscent of ping instances or load, but when there’s a pink circle subsequent to it which means it’s not out there to be used. Green, in the meantime, means it’s working.

With round 650 complete servers, Mullvad VPN’s server community is quite small in comparison with a few of its opponents. Services reminiscent of CyberGhost VPN and Private Internet Access boast server networks over 10,000. Still, I by no means felt that I used to be restricted in my choices whereas utilizing Mullvad’s service.

The app itself could be very simple to learn and perceive each within the Windows and Android variations. The default window panel is completely fastened to the bottom-right nook of the display screen, however you may change this below settings if you want.

Mullvad historically hasn’t been massive on additional options or companies in comparison with different VPNs. It doesn’t promise to get previous Netflix VPN restrictions (although typically it does), there aren’t any double-hop connections, or good DNS; nevertheless, that doesn’t imply it’s a barebones VPN by any stretch.

Sam Singleton

Sam Singleton

Sam Singleton

The service nonetheless offers a very powerful and ceaselessly used options reminiscent of a kill-switch, split-tunneling, and ad-/tracker-blocking. It even takes its kill-switch one step additional with a function known as Lockdown mode that can solely permit your gadget to connect with the web when it’s related to a Mullvad VPN server. All of those options might be discovered by clicking the gear icon on the homescreen to entry the settings menu.

Go to Settings > VPN settings, and you’ll allow Mullvad’s IPv6 choice, in addition to manually select between utilizing OpenVPN or WireGuard. Mullvad was one of many earliest VPN companies to implement WireGuard. Its multi-hop function for WireGuard can be out there right here as nicely.

Another good instrument to make use of with the VPN is Mullvad’s connection check webpage. It lets you recognize if the app is working and at present related to Mullvad. It additionally checks to see if you’re leaking DNS requests, affected by a WebRTC leak, or utilizing a blacklisted IP handle.

Mullvad has apps for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android, all of that are open-source.

How a lot does Mullvad VPN value?

Mullvad VPN

Mullvad VPN

Mullvad VPN

Mullvad’s pricing is fairly cut-and-dried. For one month you’ll pay €5, or about $5.37 on the time of writing. It additionally gives subscription choices for one yr and a staggeringly lengthy one decade — that’s virtually a lifetime within the VPN market. 

Despite these long-term subscription choices, the value nonetheless stays the identical €5 each month. To evaluate, different VPN companies usually supply their month-to-month subscription for round $10 monthly and longer-term subscriptions common out to round $3 monthly. That makes Mullvad VPN a particularly inexpensive short-term month-to-month VPN, however fairly an costly long-term choice.

It’s additionally value noting that Mullvad just lately did away with automatic-renewals on its subscription plans. According to the corporate, this was “in order to store less data” reminiscent of on-file bank cards and different personal info.

How is Mullvad VPN’s efficiency?

In order to check Mullvad VPN’s speeds I measured connection speeds throughout its servers in six completely different international locations world wide after which in contrast them to my baseline web pace. I did this utilizing each OpenVPN and WireGuard protocols.

The common obtain speeds throughout each protocols have been quite spectacular, clocking in at 47 p.c of base speeds. The add speeds have been related, sustaining a median of 49 p.c of the baseline. That makes Mullvad a contender for one of many fastest VPNs and proper up there with pace demons reminiscent of Hotspot Shield and ProtonVPN.

While testing speeds utilizing completely different protocols I didn’t discover an excessive amount of of a distinction, with WireGuard expectedly having barely quicker averages than OpenVPN. But the margins have been so slim in my testing that I’d be laborious pressed to advocate one over the opposite for pace.

The backside line is that, total, you have to be proud of the speeds from Mullvad, with the standard caveat that your expertise might range relying in your location on this planet, tools, and ISP.

In latest years Mullvad determined to begin renting servers as an alternative of proudly owning each single server that runs its VPN. Despite this variation, there have been no obvious pace decreases, and from what I might inform, just about no variations between the servers it owns and people it rents. If you’re , you may see which servers are owned and rented on its servers page.

While Mullvad has loads going for it, one space the place it doesn’t impress is in unblocking streaming companies. In my testing I discovered that the flexibility to entry geo-restricted companies reminiscent of Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Max was extraordinarily hit-or-miss.

How is Mullvad VPN’s safety and privateness?

Short reply: glorious.

Mullvad prides itself on consumer privateness, anonymity, and safety. It exhibits, too. Even from the time that you simply first pay for the service it takes this critically. You have a number of choices to pay for the VPN together with by money — distinctive amongst all different VPNs to my information.

Should you select to mail money, for instance, Mullvad says it can take the money, add credit to the account quantity included within the envelope, after which shred the envelope and the be aware. If you select to make use of bank cards or PayPal, nevertheless, you’ll be identifiable by means of these fee companies.

My DNS leak checks for each the Windows and Android apps got here up clear with no leaks detected. This means you may belief Mullvad to maintain your true IP handle hidden whereas related to its servers. By default its DNS leak safety is always-on and may’t be disabled.

Sam Singleton

Sam Singleton

Sam Singleton

In regards to VPN protocols, Mullvad retains it easy by solely providing the selection between OpenVPN and WireGuard. These are the 2 most safe protocols at present out there and doubtless one of the best choices in any case. You even have the choice to tweak and configure every connection to your personal wants by selecting Ports, Obfuscation, and whether or not you need to use a Quantum-resistant tunnel.

Moving onto its privateness coverage, Mullvad’s has precisely what you’re in search of in a VPN. Though it has now been cut up into two completely different paperwork: the overall privateness coverage and the “no-logging of user activity” coverage. In these two paperwork the corporate says it doesn’t “store any activity logs or metadata.” There’s no logging of your on-line site visitors, DNS requests, connections, timestamps, IP addresses, bandwidth, nothing. 

The solely knowledge Mullvad saves are the overall variety of present connections of all customers on its community, the CPU load per core on its servers, and the overall bandwidth used per server. It additionally logs the real-time variety of connections per account because the service permits 5 simultaneous for every account.

In 2023, Mullvad accomplished migration of its servers to RAM-only diskless servers, that means knowledge doesn’t persist on its servers nor can it’s confiscated ought to the servers be bodily eliminated.

Another welcome growth since our final evaluate is that Mullvad underwent an impartial safety audit by Assured AB in 2022. The audit proved that no consumer knowledge was leaked or logged. Independent audits are at all times signal {that a} VPN is sticking to its no-log coverage and so they go a great distance in the direction of constructing consumer belief.

Mullvad is owned and operated by Amagicom AB and based mostly in Sweden. This signifies that it could possibly be topic to necessary authorities knowledge sharing laws since Sweden is a member of the 14 Eyes indicators intelligence sharing alliance. It’s not an enormous deal, however it’s good to concentrate on, particularly for the ultra-privacy acutely aware. Admirably although, Mullvad does appear to publish a notice on its blog each time it’s topic to a search warrant.

Is Mullvad VPN value it?

Mullvad VPN guarantees privateness and safety and delivers it in droves. It may not have the entire flashy extraneous options of another VPNs, nor does it do a terrific job at unblocking Netflix, however in virtually each different space it shines.

Its dedication to defending consumer anonymity has by no means been in query and the most recent impartial safety audit additional proves this level. With this dedication to privateness in addition to efficiency, Mullvad stays considered one of our prime suggestions.

Editor’s be aware: Because on-line companies are sometimes iterative, gaining new options and efficiency enhancements over time, this evaluate is topic to alter to be able to precisely mirror the present state of the service. Any adjustments to textual content or our closing evaluate verdict will likely be famous on the prime of this text.