Mullvad VPN review
Mullvad works without an email address, accepts cash and Monero, and has been independently audited multiple times. Used daily.
Mullvad VPN review
Mullvad is the VPN most frequently recommended by privacy communities — not because of marketing, but because of its design. No account creation, no email address, no personal details. Daily driver — explained why.
How Mullvad is different
Most VPN providers ask for an email address when signing up. Mullvad doesn’t. You receive a randomly generated account number — that is your account. No username, no password, no linked identity.
You pay with cash (sending banknotes by post to Sweden genuinely works), Monero, Bitcoin or credit card. The credit card option links your identity to your account — all other options don’t.
The pricing model is simple: one rate, no discounts for longer subscriptions, no tricks. €5 per month. Always.
Specifications
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | Sweden |
| Protocol | WireGuard, OpenVPN, DAITA |
| Anonymous payment | Cash, Monero, Bitcoin |
| Account creation | No email address required |
| Open-source client | Yes — all platforms |
| Audits | Cure53 (2020, 2021), KPMG (2022, 2023) |
| Price | €5/month, fixed |
| Servers | 700+ in 40+ countries |
Audits — what was verified
Four independent audits confirm the no-logs policy:
- Cure53 (2020): Pentest of apps and infrastructure. No logs found, vulnerabilities reported and resolved.
- Cure53 (2021): Follow-up audit after remediation. Improvements confirmed.
- KPMG (2022): No-logs audit of server infrastructure.
- KPMG (2023): Annual repeat. No-logs policy confirmed again.
In 2023, police raided Mullvad’s offices in Gothenburg to seize customer data. They left empty-handed — there was nothing to take. That is the best real-world test a VPN can pass.
DAITA — defence against traffic analysis
Mullvad offers DAITA (Defence Against AI-guided Traffic Analysis) on select servers. Standard VPN hides the contents of your traffic but not the pattern — timing, packet size and frequency can theoretically be used to identify which services you’re using.
DAITA adds artificial noise to traffic patterns to make this harder. Available through the desktop app at no extra cost.
Multi-hop
You can route traffic through two Mullvad servers in two countries. Server A sees your IP but not your destination. Server B sees the destination but not your IP. Both servers would need to be compromised simultaneously to de-anonymise you.
Available in the app, slight speed reduction (~20–30%), useful for higher threat profiles.
In practice
The desktop and mobile apps are stable. The kill switch works reliably — if the VPN connection drops, the app blocks all traffic until you reconnect. LAN access is configurable separately so local devices (NAS, printer) remain reachable while VPN is active.
On Android, Mullvad also works as an always-on VPN via system settings. On GrapheneOS, used per work profile.
Speed: on Dutch servers: 300–450 Mbps WireGuard download. Sufficient for any home connection.
Caveats
Sweden falls under the EU and 14-eyes. Mullvad can in theory be compelled to hand over data. The real protection is that they have nothing to hand over — no logs, no account data — not the jurisdiction.
No free tier. If you want to test first: Mullvad offers no free trial. ProtonVPN has a free tier if you want to compare without paying.
Fewer extra features than ProtonVPN. No Secure Core, no Tor-over-VPN. Mullvad does fewer things, but the things it does are solid.
Conclusion
Mullvad is the most privacy-friendly VPN on the market. The account system without personal details, anonymous payment methods and proven no-logs infrastructure are not combined at this level anywhere else. The 2023 police raid was the best unintentional marketing campaign a VPN has ever had.
Choose Mullvad if anonymity is the priority and you’re willing to configure the app yourself.
See also:
- Which VPN should you choose? — comparison of Mullvad, ProtonVPN, IVPN and others
- VPN: what it does and what it doesn’t — what a VPN does and doesn’t protect
- Setting up a GL.iNet travel router — set up Mullvad WireGuard at router level