Mullvad review: A VPN that’s all about privacy

Macworld

At a GlanceExpert's Rating

Pros

Privacy-focused sign-up

Great for getting around geoblocks

Great pricing

Cons

Needs more servers

5 connections is lower than some rivals

Our Verdict
Mullvad’s VPN is making waves in the tech world, and not just because it’s very good. While many VPN services are great for maintaining privacy online, Mullvad goes even further, offering a low-priced, easy-to-understand plan that lets you sign up entirely anonymously if you’d like. Pair that with good speeds and great unblocking of streaming sites and you have a very competitive VPN that just needs some more servers.

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Mullvad is so keen to not store users’ personal information, it doesn’t offer new recurring plans anymore. That’s the kind of privacy-first mindset you can expect, and while you may think that sounds like overkill, your account information is tied to a single account number.

That means logging into your account is done without having to hand over an email or password, and payments are handled monthly at that flat €5 per month rolling deal (so the only price change will be dependent on the exchange rate at that time).

You can even buy prepaid cards if you don’t want to log payment information, which makes Mullvad the ideal VPN service for anyone looking to leave a minimal digital footprint.

See how Mullvad compares to other Mac VPNs we’ve tested.

For that lower price you may be wondering what kind of corners are cut, but you won’t find any (outside of more servers). Split Tunnelling, multihop connections and even an AI-focused defence mechanism called DAITA are included in your membership. It also performed excellently when we hopped between different countries’ versions of Netflix.

The app itself is a little different to many rivals, accessed exclusively from the menu bar on Mac rather than having that as an option. That’s likely to be a matter of preference, but the privacy focus, geo-unblocking and low price make this well worth a look.

Features & Apps




Content Blockers: Mullvad has a more granular filter for content blocking than some other services.Foundry

Mullvad is available on Mac (which we’ll be reviewing primarily today), but it also has Windows, iOS, iPadOS, Android, and plenty more apps. See our round ups of the Best VPN for iPad and Best VPN for iPhone.

They all work the same way, but the Mac version is restricted to the menu bar as mentioned above. That’s fine (outside of making snapping screenshots for this review a tad awkward), and it packs plenty of features inside.




iOS App: The iOS app looks identical to the Mac version.Foundry

Once you get your head around that, all versions of the app contribute to a total device limit of five. We’d always prefer more, but for this price that’s €1 per device if you use them all. Unlike some services, the iPhone and iPad apps also pack plenty of power user features, too, like multihop connections and the DAITA protection.

Sticking with the Mac version, though, and Mullvad offers a bunch of features that would be paid additions elsewhere. There’s the Kill Switch to cut traffic if the VPN drops, while a Lockdown Mode takes that step further and forces the user to reconnect via Mullvad if the connection drops.

There’s Multihop for bouncing your connection via multiple servers, and split tunnelling is available as standard so users can send some traffic via the VPN and ignore it for others, and the ad blocker is more granular than you may expect, letting you stop adult content or gambling sites, among other things.




DAITA: Mullvad is forward-thinking with its DAITA tool.Foundry

Something I’ve not seen in my testing of VPN services in recent months is DAITA (Defence against AI-guided Traffic Analysis).

As Mullvad explains, sophisticated AI can analyse data packets going to and from your device, even though that information is encrypted. DAITA isn’t supported on every server, but where it is, it’ll add ‘network noise’ so data packets are all the same size.

It’s a smart addition which feels particularly forward-thinking, and works with WireGuard at present. Speaking of which, WireGuard and OpenVPN are the supported VPN protocols here.

Performance




Multihop: Mullvad lets you further obfuscate traffic with multihop.Foundry

I’ve alluded to server counts a couple of times, and that’s the main drawback of Mullvad at present. It has almost 700 servers, which is still impressive but falls behind some of the biggest names in the game. For example, NordVPN has over 7,000 worldwide, but some are ‘virtual servers’ that aren’t always where they say they are, whereas Mullvad’s are at least all real, dedicated servers.

Mullvad also rivals the big names when it comes to getting around geoblocks. Netflix was entirely open in our testing, letting me switch between content libraries with ease. While the likes of Nord offer the same functionality, they’re much more expensive.

Still, a VPN isn’t worth its salt unless it’s relatively fast, even as traffic bounces around the globe, so what are the speeds like?

In short: good! Download speeds dropped by between 11 and 15 percent in our testing, while upload speeds dropped by less than 9 percent.

That’s really quite impressive, especially at this price and with such a focus on privacy. There are some minor nitpicks, though — I’d like to see latency noted before connecting, for example, but that’s a small issue.

Privacy & Security

As I’ve kept mentioning throughout this review, Mullvad has one eye on privacy at all times. The company is based in Sweden, and runs a no-logs policy where it doesn’t save any user information.

Mullvad has been audited multiple times to verify that policy, but given it won’t even store your email address or payment information, it’s hard not to be impressed.

Price – Every single plan for Mullvad will set you back €5 a month, or your equivalent (that’s $5.26 or £4.20 at the time of writing). That’s a big step in the right direction, with no complex add-ons or power features tied behind a paywall.

Pricing and plans

As mentioned earlier, all of this comes in at just €5 a month. That’s a steep drop compared to many of its rivals which charge around double that and lock you in for one or two years.

On the one hand, there’s an argument that you’re not getting a cheap monthly rate as with its competitors, but on the other hand you’re able to pick and choose when you subscribe without being tied into lengthy plans to secure those rates.

Should you buy Mullvad VPN?

Mullvad is a fantastic VPN service that’s about as privacy-minded as can be. It might not have the most servers, but that’s a small price to pay for the service on offer.