Mullvad bra vpn
Mullvad continues to demonstrate that it can compete against the biggest names in the VPN industry. We intensively test each VPN, making sure it meets our standards for privacy, speed and usability. Mullvad is excellent for the budget-conscious, privacy-focused VPN user who appreciates independently owned VPN products and the flexibility of not having to lock into a long-term subscription to save on the price.
And it would rather not have any insight into your payment details, either. My evaluation of Mullvad involved thorough testing of its features, along with its speeds, streaming performance and privacy protections. I also took a deep dive into its privacy policies, ownership structure and how the company handles user data. Throughout the review process, I communicated constantly with company representatives who answered my questions as I tested the service.
I found that Mullvad is very thoughtful in its approach, hyper-focused and forward-thinking regarding user privacy. While Mullvad doesn't offer an exhaustive list of servers or apps for every streaming device, its class-leading privacy and speeds make it a worthy VPN alternative to big-name rivals. With a fast VPN, you can stream videos without buffering, enjoy smooth video calls, torrent quickly and game without lag.
Despite having a relatively small network of servers, Mullvad delivered fantastic speeds via both OpenVPN and WireGuard throughout the speed tests I ran in May Having more servers in more countries can help ease the load on a server network while offering more nearby servers to more people, which can translate to faster overall speeds.
Why Mullvad VPN?
On my Mbps internet connection in Ohio, my speeds to New York hovered around Mbps -- a minimal dip. Key takeaway: Despite its relatively minuscule server network compared with many VPN rivals, you can expect excellent speeds with Mullvad. Mullvad did away with subscriptions in in an effort to store less data and better protect user privacy. When you sign up, instead of providing your name, email address and other personal data, you generate a digit code to activate the service on your devices and manage your account.
The app tells you how many days you have left on your account, and you can top it up whenever you want. There are no automatically recurring subscriptions of any sort. I also appreciate how Mullvad rejects the ever-expanding trend of jacking up prices after the initial term of the subscription and burying that information in the fine print. With Mullvad, you won't encounter any unwelcome surprises pertaining to its prices.
Get started with Mullvad
But Mullvad also accepts various international online payment methods and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Monero. You can even send an envelope stuffed with cash if you want to stay as private as possible. Mullvad offers apps for Windows , MacOS , Linux , Android and iOS -- and delivers a consistent app experience across platforms, with minor feature differences depending on the platform.
Split tunneling on MacOS worked well during my tests, although you may need to give Mullvad full disk access in your system settings like I had to for it to work properly. Though five simultaneous devices should be enough for the average VPN user, power users, families or people with a lot of devices may find it limiting. If you want to use the VPN on more than five devices at once, Mullvad offers step-by-step instructions for setting it up on a VPN-compatible router.
Setting a VPN up on a router can be difficult and even risky -- you might risk bricking your router or voiding its warranty. If you appreciate VPNs that emphasize privacy above all else -- and actually deliver in that regard -- then Mullvad could be the VPN for you. The latest security audit was conducted by German-based cybersecurity firm Cure53 in June -- the company's fourth audit completed by Cure53 and 11th independent audit overall.
Auditors "attempted to identify any potential methods by which a user's VPN traffic anonymity or integrity could be compromised," Cure53's report concluded. Therefore, it can be concluded that the examined VPN product maintains its promised security guarantees for its users.
Mullvad VPN
I appreciate that Mullvad has made the full audit report available to the general public, which starkly contrasts with how some others like IPVanish make their audit reports available only to paying customers, requiring them to provide personal information for the privilege. I also appreciate that Mullvad outlines any issues flagged by auditors and explains how engineers addressed each issue in its audit report summaries -- something most VPNs' audit summaries don't highlight.
During my conversations with Mullvad representatives in preparation for the original publication of this review in the spring of , they told me that the company will undergo an external security audit every two years. Mullvad representatives didn't mention at the time that an audit would be forthcoming in the summer of , so I reported that the biannual audit cadence is a bit less frequent than the annual cadence that we would ideally like to see from a VPN provider.
However, it appears that Mullvad is now on an annual cadence, with another infrastructure audit scheduled for , according to Mullvad's latest audit summary. We want our users to be able to verify and audit what is currently running on the VPN server they are connected to.