Mullvad VPN Review
A great value VPN for privacy
Verdict
Mullvad is a great choice for privacy and control over your subscription, but not one for streaming media enthusiasts.
Pros
- Fast speeds
- Low, consistent price of €5 a month
- Great range of cross-platform clients
Cons
- Not reliable for streaming
Availability
- UKRRP: £4.29
- USARRP: $5.43
- EuropeRRP: €5
Key Features
- Connect up to 5 devices:Mullvad VPN can be used on five different devices simultaneously, making it useful if you want it your tablet and phone as well as your laptop.
- Multi-platform support:Mullvad VPN has clients for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, so it’s not restricted exclusively to PCs.
Introduction
Mullvad is a security-focused VPN service that is unusually transparent in how it operates and says it will shut down the service rather than hand over user data. It costs just €5 (£4.29) a month, with no subscription commitment.
The company also produces a secure browser in collaboration with the Torbrowser team and built on FIrefox’s Gecko rendering engine, and provides an encrypted public DNS service, and search engine for subscribers.
Pricing and subscriptions
Mullvad costs €5 a month. At the moment, that’s about £4.29/$5.23. There are no other subscription options, but you can send them an envelope full of cash instead of using a payment card or cryptocurrency. Physical vouchers are also available to buy. There’s a 30-day money-back guarantee, too, depending on payment method (not available for cash payments for legal reasons).
Like a number of other VPN services, Mullvad licenses its infrastructure to other companies as a white label service, and most notably provides the underlying infrastructure for Mozilla VPN.
Privacy and Protection
- Uses RAMdisk servers so no data is stored on media
- Committed to a no-logging policy
Mullvad regularly implements new security measures, such as implementing post-quantum secure encryption options for its WireGuard tunnel, switching to exclusively RAMdisk servers, and, most recently, adding defences against AI assisted traffic analysis.
The company also commissions regular audits of its hardware infrastructure and applications. Mullvad’s one of the unfortunate VPN firms that has been subject to very visible and public action against it by law enforcement, when police visited the company’s Gothenburg office to seize customer data. They came away empty handed, as no data is kept.
Unlike many simple VPN services, Mullvad has top-class security features with RAMdisk servers throughout its infrastructure. This means that server software runs fully in memory, so if machines are seized, there’s no data that can be extracted from their hard disks.
Based in Sweden, Mullvad has made privacy its mission statement. Although Swedish law isn’t as privacy-friendly as that of some other jurisdictions, Mullvad says that it’s committed to its no-logging policy and details exactly which laws could cause potential problems. Its commitment to transparency is admirable.
Like a number of other VPN services, Mullvad licenses its infrastructure to other companies as a white label service, and most notably provides the underlying infrastructure for Mozilla VPN.
Mullvad also spearheads a number of other privacy-oriented projects, including the free and open source Mullvad Browser, which brings the non-Tor privacy features of TorBrowser such as temporary cookie holding, automatic cache clearing, history auto-wiping, and obfuscation of browser fingerprinting data that could give away details about your locations and system specific. This gives you a browser that is, in effect, always in incognito mode.
Because it’s made by Mullvad, it comes with a plugin to report your Mullvad VPN connection status, but it’s better to think of this as a privacy-enhanced browser that can be used to support the privacy features of any VPN (or even without one, if you just want to be sure that your local browsing history is wiped).
Features and usability
- Supports wide range of platforms
- Lots of features, including a kill switch, ad blocker and split tunnelling
A Mullvad subscription allows you to simultaneously connect up to five devices. Mullvad’s desktop clients only use the WireGuard protocol, implemented with security features such as automatic key rotation.
The experience of using the app is very consistent across all platforms, and Mulvad is one of only a few services (also including Perfect Privacy and Private Internet Access) that provide an equivalent Linux desktop app. Manual configuration options using OpenVPN are available for appliances such as routers.
Mullvad supports a range of advanced features, including split tunnelling so you can exclude specified apps from the VPN, optional access to your local network, an always-on kill switch to take you offline if the VPN drops, Shadowsocks obfuscation and multi-hop routing to take you through two different endpoint locations, with the intention of making your activities even harder to trace.
Like an increasing number of VPN services, Mullvad offers the options to block adverts, trackers and malware.
Performance
- Reliable speeds
- Can’t be used while streaming video
All of my testing was carried out on a virtual desktop physically located at a data centre in London with a high-speed internet connection. This testing setup produces results under optimal connection conditions. VPN clients are tested on their default settings.
Mullvad’s performance in my latest tests ranged from blisteringly quick to merely fast enough for high-quality media streaming, so you’re unlikely to experience any major bottlenecks in performance, even though it can’t match the consistent speeds of rivals SurfShark, ExpressVPN and NordVPN.
Mullvad’s US speeds in particular have improved since our last round of tests, although they’re still below 100 Mibt/s when you connect from this side of the pond.
However, you’ll have to use split tunnelling to use most streaming video services while connected, which will allow you to watch local streaming services without being falsely identified as someone attempting to bypass their terms and conditions.
Services like Netflix, iPlayer and Disney+ don’t want VPN users to access them, and Mullvad has no interest in competing with region-shifting specialist VPNs to make the attempt.
| VPN Provider | UK | Netherlands | United States | Average |
| Mullvad | 367.2 Mbps | 235.2 Mbps | 87.2 Mbps | 229.87 Mbps |
| Reference Group Average | 240 Mbps | 316 Mbps | 47.97 Mbps | 201.32 Mbps |
| Reference (no VPN) | 219.05 Mbps | 210.43 Mbps | 144.51 Mbps | 183.81 Mbps |
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Should you buy it?
You need a secure, effective short-term VPN subscription: Mullvad’s service is top-notch, but the best thing about it is the no-obligation, no-subscription month-to-month.
You need guaranteed region-shifted video streaming: Mullvad has always been explicit that its service doesn’t exist to help people avoid region-locking by video streaming services and it doesn’t pursue fast rotation of its IP addresses to that end.
Final Thoughts
Mullvad’s frank transparency and security focus for its users is a very welcome position in the VPN market, particularly when paired with generally good performance – trans-continental transfer speed notwithstanding. You can’t reliably region-shift video on it, but if you’re looking for convenience, privacy and security, Mullvad is an outstanding choice.
If you’re looking for more specialised alternatives, Perfect Privacy has a proven track record for security, NordVPN and ProtonVPN are faster and PIA works out significantly cheaper if you get a long subscription. However, assuming you’re not interested in overseas TV, Mullvad does pretty much everything else you’ll need a VPN to do, and is the best choice if you don’t want to lay out for a long-term subscription.
How we test
We run tests from a London-based connection that typically sees speeds between 500Mbps and 700Mbps, which means that we’re able to get a good idea of what each VPN’s maximum speeds currently are.
We test multiple endpoints from each provider in three locations: the UK, the Netherlands and the U.S.
Tested speeds with three endpoints: UK, USA and the Netherlands
Researched security and no-logging claims
Tested all available features
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FAQs
No, Mullvad VPN requires a monthly fee of €5 to use.
No, Mullvad is not a good option when using streaming services.
Mullvad doesn’t provide any endpoints that automatically route over Tor, but it provides instructions for using Tor when connected to Mullvad via its SOCKS5 proxy and has its own Mullvad browser, which has the non-Tor privacy features of Torbrowser but is instead intended to be used to enhance your privacy when connected to a standard VPN, such as Mullvad.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
