Mullvad review: the VPN that designed out the reason to trust it

The account is the review

Everything unusual about Mullvad follows from one design decision: the account is a random 16-digit number and nothing else. No email, no name, no password. Pay by card if you like, or send €5 in an envelope with the number on a note, or Monero. The company has structured itself so that it cannot identify its customers, and the consequences run through everything — no marketing emails, no “we noticed you haven’t renewed”, no support ticket that starts with your name.

In April 2023 Swedish police arrived at Mullvad’s office with a warrant to seize computers containing customer data. Mullvad’s lawyers pointed out that no such data existed; the officers left without taking anything. That is the strongest real-world test of a no-logs policy any VPN has undergone, and it is the reason this site treats Mullvad as the benchmark.

Ownership, jurisdiction and audits

Amagicom AB, Gothenburg, owned by its founders since 2009 with no outside investors. Sweden is a Fourteen Eyes member, which is the main structural objection, and its data retention law does not apply to VPN providers. Mullvad publishes its ownership and a transparency report. Apps are open source and audited regularly by Cure53 and Assured; the reports are public. Servers are RAM-only. Mullvad also operates its own DNS service and, since 2023, a Tor-like browser with Mullvad Browser, built with the Tor Project.

Protocols, network and features

WireGuard, and only WireGuard since 2025; OpenVPN was retired. Around 690 servers in 49 countries, most owned rather than rented. Multi-hop. DNS-level blocking of ads, trackers and malware. Shadowsocks bridges and automatic obfuscation for censored networks. DAITA, a defence against traffic-analysis attacks that pads and shapes traffic, unique to Mullvad. Five devices. The kill switch is on by default and enforced with firewall rules on every platform. Port forwarding was removed in July 2023 after abuse, which hurt seeders and was explained publicly.

What it costs

€5 a month. That is the table. There is no intro, no renewal jump, no tiers, and no affiliate programme paying anyone to recommend it. Over three years it costs about the same as the “cheap” two-year plans elsewhere cost after their renewals, and nothing about it changes.

Streaming and censorship

Mullvad does not unblock streaming services and does not claim to. Netflix, iPlayer and the rest work occasionally on some servers and that should be treated as luck. In China, Iran and Russia it works intermittently with bridges; it is a reasonable second provider behind Proton for those countries, and its cash payment makes it purchasable from anywhere.

The iPhone app

This month’s App Store analysis of 580 recent reviews — a small sample, so the score is noisier — puts the app mid-table with a higher critical-complaint rate than the majors, mostly iOS integration and connection issues. The listing rating is 4.14 stars from about 1,400 ratings. Mullvad’s iOS app has historically lagged its desktop apps. Full breakdown.

What we have not tested

Speed and leaks. Published tests put Mullvad’s WireGuard among the fastest, helped by owned hardware. Our own tests are pending; the speed dimension is excluded from the score until they land.