Mullvad Review: Excellent Privacy-Oriented VPN for 2026

Mullvad’s VPN product is synonymous with privacy.

It’s long been regarded as one of the most privacy-focused VPNs in the industry, and with good reason. Mullvad offers a truly anonymous, private VPN service that’s so uninterested in your data they don’t even let you sign up with a subscription… because they don’t want to store your payment details.

In fact, you don’t even have to provide an email when you sign up for Mullvad. Instead, you get given a secret account number when you sign up that you can top up with VPN credits. That might sound a little complex, but Mullvad’s pricing structure makes it simple: it’s 5EUR a month no matter whether you buy one month or several years.

However, Mullvad has a few sticking points. Amagicom AB, the company behind Mullvad, was founded in 2009 in Göteborg, Sweden by Fredrik Strömberg and Daniel Berntsson. Sweden has historically been a great place for data privacy, but the fact it’s part of the 14 Eyes intelligence sharing pact is a little worrisome.

It’s also not the best for streaming, and their strict use of physical servers means there’s less locations than you’d expect. Read on and we’ll discuss whether Mullvad is worth buying, or if you should stick to a more mainstream VPN.

Mullvad VPN Overview

OVERALL RANK:	#10 Out of 30 VPNs
USABILITY:	4/5
LOG FILES:	No Logging Policy
LOCATIONS:	50 Locations, 580+ Servers
SUPPORT:	Email Only
TORRENTING:	Torrenting Allowed
NETFLIX:	Limited Support
ENCRYPTION/PROTOCOL:	256-bit AES, OpenVPN, WireGuard & DAITA
COST:	€5.00/mo ($5.92)
OFFICIAL WEBSITE:	www.mullvad.net

Mullvad Pros

1. No-Logging Privacy Policy

Every single VPN provider claims to not log any of your data as you make use of their networks.

We’ve discovered this to be anything but true; VPN providers do log and provide your data to authorities.

Fun, eh?

But you got us! Experts, who spend hours reading through legal jibber jabber so we can paint a true picture.

Check out Mullvad’s Logging Policy:

Did you notice something?

Numbered Account

Sounds awfully Swiss-Bank-Secrecy like, eh? I’ll explain this amazing feature later on. You do not want to miss it!

In short, you don’t sign up with an email and password. You get a numbered account and that’s it!

Mullvad’s No-Logging policy is perhaps the single strongest we have ever seen and it makes so much sense.

Their lack of login information gives them the ability to offer you unprecedented anonymity! Just fantastic!

Additionally, Mullvad’s website does not track you across their web, as shown via Privacy Badger!

Recent Verification: In 2023, Swedish police served Mullvad with a warrant to seize user data. Since the company maintains no logs and stores no user data, police left empty-handed—a real-world validation of their privacy practices.

2. Strong Tunneling Protocols – OpenVPN & WireGuard

It was rather interesting to discover that Mullvad only uses OpenVPN and WireGuard protocols, having discontinued support for older protocols in favor of these proven solutions.

WireGuard is now a mature, secure networking tunnel that has become the industry standard for modern VPN connections. Due to its minimalist and streamlined codebase, this crypto-based protocol delivers significantly faster connections and near-zero connection delays compared to traditional protocols.

As of 2026, WireGuard is fully supported across all platforms including Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android with excellent stability and performance.

Mullvad also supports the SOCKS5 protocol for users requiring additional proxy functionality.

New for 2026: Mullvad has discontinued OpenVPN support on January 15, 2026, transitioning fully to WireGuard to focus on the most secure and efficient protocol available.

3. Safe and Secure – No IP Leaks

Right, we agree that Mullvad has our best interest at heart.

Step 1 – Check.

It does seem, however, that disastrous data breaches are happening more often than ever before!

Mullvad follows standard practices here and utilizes industry standard AES-256 Encryption via UDP.

All Mullvad servers now run entirely on RAM with no persistent storage, which was completed in early 2025. This means all data is automatically wiped when servers are rebooted or powered down, providing an additional layer of security.

Nothing out of the ordinary here. I would have liked some more info on those subjects on their website.

It’s very scarce.

Has a Kill Switch

A kill switch allows the VPN to cut your internet connection if its own tunneling process fails.

Mullvad has such feature available which is enabled by default and cannot be disabled, ensuring maximum protection. They also offer “Lockdown mode” for enhanced security that blocks all traffic when not connected to the VPN.

As much as we trust Mullvad, we have a duty to ensure that their tech works as intended. So, we booted up an instance of Mullvad’s VPN client on our testing rig and checked to see if the kill switch actually blocks traffic when disconnected. As you can see from the results below, once we lost connection to the VPN we weren’t able to route any traffic to the internet from our testing machine. So, we’re pretty happy that Mullvad’s kill switch works as intended.

 

No DNS, IPv6, or WebRTC Leaks

The systems that connect a domain like “TheBestVPN.com” to its actual IP address are known as Domain Name Servers (DNS).

A DNS can have a perfect map of your browsing history, which is precisely the problem that VPNs were initially designed to overcome. However, some VPNs encounter issues when trying to hide your browsing from a DNS server.

When this information is attacked and accessed, we call it a DNS leak.

Here at TheBestVPN.com, we put all of our VPNs through a series of tests, ensuring that IP leaks are not a threat. We tested Mullvad in 2026 and found it continues to receive perfect marks across all leak protection tests.

Our first test uses IPLeak.net to ensure that Mullvad doesn’t leak your IP through DNS requests. After running the test, we could see that the only DNS server IPLeak could contact was the one assigned to us by Mullvad’s VPN. By default, Mullvad routes all DNS requests through its encrypted DNS servers to prevent leaking which websites you’re accessing to entities like Google or Cloudflare, as well as to keep those requests secret from your ISP. For more info, you can check out Mullvad’s guide on preventing DNS leaks here.

As with most high-end VPN providers, Mullvad keeps IPv6 traffic turned off to prevent IP leaks. That’s why the IPv6 test doesn’t show up on IPLeaks, as there’s simply no traffic to route.

The other main culprit for IP leaks is through the WebRTC protocol. It’s used to enable browsers to talk to directly to each other, but it can expose your real IP in the process pretty easily as it sidesteps some VPN tunnels. To check whether Mullvad handles this properly, we loaded up BrowserLeaks.com and ran their WebRTC testing tool.

Full marks. Mullvad doesn’t suffer from any WebRTC leaks when the client is enabled. With that out of the way, we’re heading back to IPLeaks.net to test out Mullvad’s obfuscation settings.

Mullvad offers multiple different obfuscation protocols and is one of the only major VPN providers to offer obfuscation for the WireGuard protocol, which is significantly quicker than OpenVPN. Without getting into the technical details, obfuscation works by disguising your VPN traffic as something else so ISPs can’t identify it and block your VPN connection. There’s plenty of different ways this works, from just scrambling the headers used to tell a network device “This is VPN traffic!” through to masquerading the traffic as HTTPS browsing data.

Regardless of which protocol you choose, we’ve found that Mullvad adequately protects your traffic even when using obfuscation settings. If you’re being blocked by your network admin or ISP while using Mullvad VPN, give it a shot and it’ll probably unblock your connection.

If you want to double-check Mullvad’s DNS protection for yourself (as well as WebRTC protection), you can check out their online DNS testing tool.

We also ran Mullvad’s setup file through 67 different Anti-Virus programs and confirmed it remains clean and safe for installation.

 

The 60+ well-respected antivirus programs continue to confirm that Mullvad can be trusted!

4. Faster Than Average Speed

Common sense suggests that, if you’re taking the long road around, it’s going to take longer to go from A to B.

No difference here!

Any time you chose to utilize a VPN, you’re going off the beaten path.

Slow-downs are unavoidable!

That said, some perform much better than others. How fast a server is depends on many factors, not least how much it is being used.

Cheap VPNs skimp out and let their servers be overused and bogged down.

Yucky.

One of our most important and extensive tests are to measure connection speeds. We perform many hundreds of them every day with the single goal of finding the fastest ones!

Recent 2026 testing shows Mullvad continues to deliver competitive speeds, though performance can vary significantly by server location and distance.

We’ve taken a baseline reading from our testing rig, which usually delivers speeds at around 250Mbps download and upload. Then, we’ve connected to regions in Europe, the USA, and Asia to see whether Mullvad provides appropriate speeds around the globe.

Usually, we don’t like to see more than a 20% speed reduction. Here are updated Mullvad results from recent testing:

Baseline

• Download: 251.21Mbps
• Upload: 249.25Mbps
• Ping: 1ms

Nearest Server (Europe)

• Download: 239.96Mbps
• Upload: 180.70Mbps
• Ping: 25ms

US East

• Download: 207.43Mbps
• Upload: 230.02Mbps
• Ping: 97ms

Asia

• Download: 214.46Mbps
• Upload: 224.44Mbps
• Ping: 224ms

For the most part, we’re pretty happy with how Mullvad performed. However, the upload speeds to our nearest server in Europe is far below what we’d expect with around a 28% speed loss. As always, your mileage may vary, and for the most part Mullvad compares very favorably with our fastest VPNs. In fact, our speeds to Asia were above what we expected.

We believe a lot of Mullvad’s improved speed results compared to our previous tests is down to the introduction of WireGuard as the primary VPN protocol, which has generally improved speeds compared to the older OpenVPN protocol.

5. Torrenting And P2P Is Allowed

With torrenting being one of the biggest reasons people use VPNs, you’d think all providers would allow them.

Right?

Not if you’re based in countries where you can get sued into the ground.

You won’t find too many torrent friendly VPNs operating in any of the 14 eyes jurisdiction.

Especially not Sweden. Ya know, the blokes who charged and jailed the The Pirate Bay Founders.

Mullvad is one of the few that DO support torrenting.

While they do not state so explicitly, their detailed and straightforward BitTorrent guide confirms they are A-OK with you doing your thing!

Note: Mullvad removed port forwarding support in 2023 due to abuse concerns, which may impact some advanced P2P users, though basic torrenting functionality remains fully supported.

6. DAITA: Defense Against AI-Guided Traffic Analysis

New for 2024-2025: Mullvad introduced a groundbreaking feature called DAITA (Defense Against AI-guided Traffic Analysis) that represents a major advancement in VPN privacy protection.

Even with VPN encryption, sophisticated AI-powered traffic analysis can potentially identify your online activities by analyzing patterns in data packet timing, size, and frequency. DAITA counteracts this by:

• Constant packet sizes: Padding all packets to uniform sizes to eliminate identifying patterns
• Dummy traffic injection: Adding fake background traffic to mask real activity patterns
• Dynamic configurations: DAITA v2 (released March 2025) uses randomized, server-defined parameters that change with each connection

DAITA v2 improvements:

• 50% reduction in bandwidth overhead compared to v1
• Dynamic, unpredictable tunnel characteristics
• Resistance to attacks targeting DAITA itself
• Available on all platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android

This feature is currently available on over 20 servers across select locations and represents the cutting edge of VPN privacy technology. DAITA v3 is already in development with additional protections planned.

Important: DAITA significantly increases bandwidth usage and may impact battery life on mobile devices, but provides unprecedented protection against advanced surveillance techniques.

7. Some Streaming Support

Back a few years ago, when cyber attacks and data breaches weren’t as common, VPNs were an amazing tool to watch Netflix from everywhere in the world.

Netflix geo-blocks its content, meaning that the Netflix someone watches in New York City would be different from the Netflix one in Rome Italy. VPNs became your go-to solution because of these restrictions.

Unfortunately, Netflix is very quick to identify VPN connections and block access to their services today.

Remember, a VPN hides your traffic, but not always the fact that you’re using a VPN.

Before we get into the positive results of our streaming tests for Mullvad, we should remind you that Mullvad is a privacy-first VPN service. That means that it’s not designed for some of the conveniences you’re used to from a VPN, and one of the areas that’s most apparent is in its streaming support.

We’ll get into the streaming services that didn’t work in the cons section, but let’s go over the ones that did first.

We connected to Mullvad’s UK servers in London and connected to BBC iPlayer. We were able to watch Peaky Blinders without any issues or lag first time.

The same goes for Paramount Plus DE after we connected to Mullvad’s German servers in Frankfurt. Streaming Landman was easy enough.

That’s it. Unfortunately, the reality is that Mullvad does not prioritize streaming services, and Netflix compatibility is inconsistent. We’ve seen reports that Mullvad users often need to try multiple servers to find one that works, if streaming works at all.

If streaming is your primary VPN use case, consider services specifically optimized for this purpose like NordVPN or ExpressVPN.

8. Excellent Mobile Apps Now Available

When we first reviewed Mullvad, mobile device support required complex manual OpenVPN configuration. This significant limitation has been completely resolved.

Current Mobile Support (2026):

iOS App:

• Native app available on the App Store since 2020
• WireGuard protocol support
• Simple, intuitive interface
• DAITA support added in 2024
• Multihop feature available
• Requires iOS 15.0 or later

Android App:

• Available on Google Play Store and F-Droid
• Full feature parity with desktop apps
• Split tunneling support
• Auto-connect functionality
• WireGuard key rotation
• DAITA and Multihop support
• Works on Android 8.0+

The mobile experience is now seamless, with the same privacy-focused approach as the desktop version. The numbered account system works across all devices, and users can connect up to 5 devices simultaneously.

The mobile apps maintain Mullvad’s signature minimalist design while providing all essential VPN functionality. Recent updates have significantly improved the user experience for non-technical users.

9. Strong Server Network With Ownership Focus

When it comes to servers: the more a VPN has, the better. You want options and Mullvad delivers reasonable coverage with a focus on quality over quantity.

Mullvad has greatly improved their server information transparency, presenting a streamlined website with a clearly defined server list, separating all server options into categories.

Current Server Statistics (2026):

• Total Servers: 580+ servers across 50 locations
• OpenVPN Servers: Mullvad no longer offers OpenVPN servers
• WireGuard Servers: Primary focus, available in 50 countries
• Bridge Servers: Available for bypassing censorship
• Owned vs Rented: Mix of owned infrastructure and rented dedicated servers

Key Server Features:

• RAM-only operation: All servers run entirely from RAM with no persistent storage
• No virtual locations: All servers are physically located where advertised
• 10-20 Gbps speeds: All servers are high-bandwidth capable
• Geographic distribution: Concentrated in Europe/North America with limited presence in other regions

Server Ownership Breakdown:
Mullvad owns servers in key locations including Germany, France, Finland, Sweden, and other select European countries. Rented servers provide coverage in additional countries while maintaining the same security standards.

DAITA Server Availability:
As of 2026, DAITA is available on 40+ servers across 23 locations in 15 countries with plans for expansion. Users can filter servers by DAITA support in the app.

While Mullvad’s server count is smaller than industry giants like NordVPN (9,000+ servers) or ExpressVPN (1000s of servers), the focus on quality, security, and transparency sets it apart. Each server undergoes rigorous security auditing and operates under the same strict no-logs policy.

10. Good 3rd Party Ratings

Apple Store

Mullvad VPN has approximately 1.3K ratings on the App Store, with a decent score of 4.1-stars.

Google Play Store

On Google’s Play Store, Mullvad VPN has around 7.41K reviews with an average score of 4.3 stars, and has been downloaded over 1 million times.

Trustpilot

Mullvad has slightly less then stellar reviews on Trustpilot, but 3.7 stars is decent enough over 174 reviews.

Mullvad Cons

1. Super Strict Swedish Jurisdiction (14 Eyes)

After WW2, the UKUSA Agreement changed how intelligence communities worked forever. What started as an intelligence-sharing agreement between two countries over 70 years ago has now become an alliance of 14 western countries which share intelligence between each other.

Scary? You betcha.

If you think the NSA only spies on US citizens, think again.

Unfortunately, Mullvad is based in Sweden, which is one of those 14 nations. In fact, Sweden has exceptionally active intelligence sharing and is considered at the forefront of information sharing within the alliance.

Would this usually be a dealbreaker? Almost certainly.

Is it with Mullvad? No!

Real-World Validation (2023): The Swedish police served Mullvad with a warrant demanding user data. Since Mullvad stores no logs and maintains no user information, the police left empty-handed. This incident provided real-world proof that their privacy practices work even under legal pressure.

Remember how you don’t need to provide any information to register? If you make sure to pay for their services anonymously (Bitcoin, Monero, or cash), there is nothing that the 14 eyes could possibly use to identify you.

That said, I would highly suggest you to look elsewhere, if you’re not into cryptocurrency and would prefer a more convenient payment process.

2. No Live Chat Support

You don’t plan on breaking your arm next Sunday, but you still have health insurance.

Do you agree?

It’s not a question of if, but of when you’ll need to reach out and require assistance from your VPN provider. Mullvad or not.

With Mullvad, you’re going to be limited in how quick you’ll receive assistance.

Unfortunately, our favorite Swedes do not provide any sort of live chat or ticketing system. What’s more, their knowledgebase offers limited help articles. You’ll have to dig and scroll to find one that may or may not answer your question.

You can reach them through their email: [email protected]

Current Support Status (2026):

• Email only: No live chat or phone support
• Response time: Typically within 24-48 hours
• Quality: Generally helpful but limited by email format
• Hours: Support primarily during Swedish business hours
• Languages: English and Swedish

Here’s a quick CS test I performed, to gauge how they would respond to a couple of basic questions.

As you can see, I made sure to be vague and really went heavy on the “I don’t know anything” angle.

They got back to me in about 24 hours!

The response quality varies, but they tend to be honest and direct rather than providing marketing spin.

For good measure I tested them again, this time through Facebook.

I asked a very probing question, about an abusable loophole in their system (nothing to fear). As a professional courtesy I have redacted the details to avoid people abusing their good nature.

I was amazed to receive a response and what a response! They didn’t try to spin a story or anything, but flat out admitted what I already knew to be true.

Really impressive! I just wish this level of quality would extend to more accessible support channels.

The lack of 24/7 support remains a significant limitation for users in different time zones or those requiring immediate assistance.

3. Limited Streaming Optimization

As we’ve mentioned before, Mullvad doesn’t optimize its servers for streaming. As a result, most of the streaming services you’d want to access on Mullvad are blocked. While other top-tier VPNs regularly check to see which services are blocked and update their servers accordingly, Mullvad does not do this. So, even if you get in touch with their support staff and flag the issue, you’re probably out of luck

Our own experience trying to run streaming tests on Mullvad reflected this.

First of all, our Netflix tests were all completely unsuccessful. We tried to log into Netflix US, and despite changing our IP to various servers in the US we couldn’t even get past the login page.

Unfortunately, we found the same issue with Netflix UK despite trying multiple servers.

We also encountered the same problem when trying to access Netflix JP. We tried servers in both Tokyo and Osaka, but no dice.

Finally, we tried Netflix DE using Mullvad’s Germany servers. No luck here either, meaning that our tests show Mullvad can’t access any of the major streaming libraries for Netflix.

We moved on to HBO Max using Amazon Prime, where our results were similarly disappointing.

We also weren’t able to access Disney US despite trying multiple servers in the US.

Last of all, Mullvad couldn’t unblock Amazon Prime DE either.

While Mullvad has made significant improvements in many areas, we can confidently say that streaming remains a weak point compared to other top-tier VPNs we’ve reviewed in the past.

Mullvad also does not offer Smart DNS servers, so it’s a bad choice if you’re looking to stream on devices that can’t support a full VPN client.

If streaming is your primary VPN use case, services like NordVPN, ExpressVPN, or Surfshark offer far better compatibility and dedicated streaming server infrastructure.

4. Server Distribution Gaps

While Mullvad has improved its server network significantly, its geographic coverage pales in comparison to competitors like NordVPN and Surfshark. There’s practically no server coverage in Africa or South America, and only a few more in Asia and the Middle East. Essentially, if you want to connect to a location using Mullvad, you better hope it’s in Europe or the USA. Otherwise, there’s a high likelihood Mullvad doesn’t cover it.

Comparison With Competitors:

• Mullvad: 50 locations, 580+ servers
• NordVPN: 181 locations, 9,000+ servers
• ExpressVPN: 105 locations, 1000s of servers
• Surfshark: 100+ locations, 4,500+ servers

This concentration in developed markets means if you’re connecting from outside Europe or the USA, you’re going to be starved for low-latency servers to connect to. If you’re regularly using latency-sensitive programs for things like video calling or gaming, you’re better off choosing one of the above competitors with a larger server count.

Mullvad Pricing, Cost and Payment Methods

Mullvad’s pricing is refreshingly simple and has remained unchanged since 2009.

It’s beautifully simple.

You make an account, which takes a couple seconds.

After that, 30 days of access costs €5 (about $5.92).

No monthly plans, no gated features that require “Premium” accounts – nothing.

It’s 5 euros a month and that’s it. No discounts for longer terms, no special pricing tiers.

2026 Pricing Structure:

• Monthly: €5.00 ($5.92)
• Annual: €60.00 ($65.04) – same monthly rate
• Device limit: 5 simultaneous connections
• Money-back guarantee: 30 days (14 days as of 2026)

Payment Methods (2026):
Among the multiple payment methods, Mullvad accepts the following for maximum privacy and convenience:

Anonymous Options:

• Bitcoin (10% discount)
• Bitcoin Cash (10% discount)
• Monero (10% discount) – For extra privacy
• Bitcoin Lightning (10% discount)
• Cash by mail – Physical cash sent to their Swedish office

Traditional Options:

• Credit/Debit Cards
• PayPal (one-time payments only, as subscriptions have been phased out by Mullvad across the board)
• Bank wire transfer
• Swish (Swedish mobile payment)
• EPS transfer
• Bancontact
• iDEAL
• Przelewy24

This, coupled with their numbered accounts ensures maximum anonymity if you choose anonymous payment methods.

Yes, please!

Refund Policy Update: As of 2026, Mullvad offers a 14-day money-back guarantee (reduced from 30 days) for most payment methods. Cash payments are excluded due to anti-money laundering regulations.

Value Assessment:
At $5.92/month with no long-term discounts, Mullvad is more expensive than competitors’ annual plans but competitive for month-to-month service:

• More expensive than: NordVPN annual ($3.49/month), Surfshark annual ($2.49/month)
• Competitive with: ExpressVPN monthly, ProtonVPN monthly
• Cheaper than: Most monthly VPN plans from major providers

The consistent pricing eliminates surprise renewal fees but means no savings for long-term commitments.

Do We recommend Mullvad VPN?

Yes, with some caveats. 

Mullvad is a privacy-first VPN, and it’s always going to remain that way. Any new features (or existing ones, for that matter) are going to focus on providing you with a more private internet connection. If that’s what you need, read on. Otherwise, there are other providers on the market that offer much more than Mullvad for the equivalent of €5. Immediately, Surfshark springs to mind. You can get Surfshark One+ for two years for roughly the same price, which includes the full spectrum of Surfshark products up to identity theft coverage worth $1M.

So, don’t be tempted by Mullvad VPN just because of the price. It’s quite inconvenient to keep topping Mullvad up every few months, too. The reason you actually pay for Mullvad is because you need a VPN run by real privacy experts. DAITA is the real stand-out feature you won’t find anywhere elsewhere else, and their RAM-only servers and no-logs policy are all backed by multiple audits, most recently by Assured. Other providers offer better streaming support and wider location coverage so unless you’re connecting from a jurisdiction where privacy is paramount, look elsewhere.

Bottom Line: Mullvad has evolved into one of the most privacy-focused, technically advanced VPNs available. While it’s not the best choice for streaming or high-speed connectivity, it excels at its core mission: providing anonymous, secure internet access with cutting-edge privacy protection.

Alternative Recommendations:

• For streaming: NordVPN or ExpressVPN
• For budget-conscious users: Surfshark
• The best free VPN: ProtonVPN
• Need a 45-day money-back guarantee: CyberGhost
• Servers in all 50 states: Private Internet Access