Nice vpn service. I really love the way it works.
Mullvad
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Mullvad is a VPN service that helps keep your online activity, identity, and location private
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mullvad.net
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EditorialOverview
Mullvad VPN stands as one of the few remaining VPN services built from the ground up around radical privacy rather than convenience. Launched in March 2009 by Swedish founders Fredrik Strömberg and Daniel Berntsson, the service operates under parent company Amagicom AB—a name derived from the Sumerian ama-gi, the oldest known word for freedom. Unlike virtually every competitor, Mullvad requires no email address, no password, and no personal identifier to purchase or connect. Users receive a randomly generated account number, pay €5 per month, and are online within minutes. This flat pricing model, unchanged for years according to long-term subscribers, deliberately rejects the surveillance-driven tiered-subscription playbook common across the industry.
The service supports all major desktop and mobile platforms—Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android—and offers dedicated browser integration through the Mullvad Browser, developed in collaboration with the Tor Project. For users seeking maximum anonymity, Mullvad maintains Tor onion service mirrors and fully embraces open-source development across its client applications and infrastructure tooling.
Privacy & KYC
Mullvad occupies the rarest KYC tier in our directory: L0 — Trustless. No account creation flow exists. No email verification. No phone number. No identity document upload. The entire relationship between user and service is reduced to a 16-digit account number and whatever payment method the user selects. This architecture eliminates the honeypot risk inherent in conventional VPN services, where a compromised database instantly exposes subscriber identities.
- KYC tier: L0 — Trustless (no account required at all)
- Email required: None
- IP logging: Explicitly prohibited; infrastructure designed to discard connection metadata
- Audits: Independent security assessments completed, including a 2018 app audit
- Transparency: Open-source clients; System Transparency initiative for verifiable server firmware
The company has demonstrated operational integrity under legal pressure. When law enforcement compelled Mullvad to discontinue port forwarding due to abuse concerns, the team complied transparently rather than silently modifying policy—a move that cost them feature parity but reinforced their reputation for honesty. Their 2014 disclosures of critical OpenVPN vulnerabilities (Heartbleed and Shellshock) to competitors before public announcement further illustrate a security-first ethos that prioritizes ecosystem safety over competitive advantage.
Supported assets & payments
Mullvad accepts one of the broadest privacy-preserving payment palettes in the VPN sector. Users can fund accounts using Monero (XMR), Bitcoin, Lightning Network, conventional fiat channels, or physical cash sent by mail. The inclusion of Monero is particularly significant for no-KYC users, as XMR's ring signatures and stealth addresses break the on-chain traceability that undermines Bitcoin's pseudonymity. Cash payments, accepted since September 2010, represent the ultimate unlinkable funding mechanism for users willing to accept postal transit times. The flat €5 monthly rate simplifies accounting and removes the upselling friction common to competitors who gate server access or connection speeds behind premium tiers.
Security & custody
Mullvad's security architecture centers on user custody of trust rather than user custody of keys—appropriate for a privacy service rather than a financial one. The client applications are fully open source, permitting independent verification of encryption implementations and leak protection. The service deployed WireGuard support in March 2017 and introduced post-quantum secure tunneling by December 2017, placing it years ahead of mainstream adoption curves. IPv6 support, launched in September 2014, prevents IPv6 leak exposure that plagues legacy VPN configurations.
Server infrastructure benefits from Mullvad's System Transparency initiative, which aims to run open-source firmware on off-the-shelf hardware—a first achieved in August 2019. This reduces the risk of supply-chain compromise at the firmware level, an attack vector most VPN operators ignore entirely. The Mozilla partnership (July 2019) to utilize Mullvad's server network for Mozilla's own VPN product validates the underlying infrastructure's reliability and scale.
Who it's for — verdict
Mullvad earns its 10/10 overall score and 100/100 privacy score by refusing to compromise on the fundamentals that matter to anonymity-seeking users. It is the definitive choice for journalists, activists, cryptocurrency users, and anyone operating under threat models where identity disclosure carries serious consequences. The 89/100 trust score reflects minor operational friction—occasional IP blocking by streaming services and the removal of port forwarding—not fundamental reliability concerns.
The service is less suited for users prioritizing geoblocking circumvention for entertainment, or those requiring port forwarding for self-hosted services. Support responsiveness receives mixed community feedback, though the self-service documentation and stable client applications reduce dependency on ticket-based assistance. For privacy-purists who accept these trade-offs, Mullvad remains the benchmark against which all no-KYC VPN services are measured in 2026.
Mullvad VPN delivers trustless, no-account privacy with flat-rate pricing, multi-crypto acceptance including Monero, and a proven no-logging infrastructure that has undergone independent auditing.
- + True no-account, no-email signup with randomly generated account numbers
- + Monero, Bitcoin Lightning, and cash payments accepted alongside fiat
- + Independently audited no-log policy with open-source client verification
- + Flat €5/month pricing without tiered feature gating
- + Post-quantum secure tunnels and WireGuard support since 2017
- + Tor onion mirrors and Mullvad Browser co-developed with Tor Project
- − Port forwarding discontinued following legal pressure
- − Server IPs occasionally blocked by major websites and streaming platforms
- − Support response times reported as inconsistent by some users
- − No native password or credential recovery mechanism (by design)
Attributes
16 signalsUser reports
★ 4.9/5 · 53 ratingsIt's a very good VPN, they do allow crypto payments and I never had any issue with them. The only thing I actually miss is port forwarding, but too many people tried to abuse it. The extension in Mullvad Browser is very useful, if the server's IP is blocked, you can just choose to use their proxy and you'll be able to access the website or service that blocked it.
It's a good VPN. I've been using it for several years now.
Great vpn. I would rate 5 starts if they brought back port forwarding.
Great VPN if you care about privacy. Been using it for years, paid with Monero, with consistently fast server speeds and reliable performance.
Solid VPN service, love the crypto payments. Only issue I've ever had is the server IPs occasionally being blocked by some websites.
Best VPN ever no doubt about that
No information needed on signup, they accept XMR and provide IPv6 access. I have no complaints except perhaps that there is no port forwarding which is understandable.
Answers to law enforcement, when law enforcement pressured them to remove port forwarding they did.
The best VPN service. The client app is very stable, and it's great that they have a Firefox extension. However, the support is poor; even when you point out technical issues with the servers or the app, they tend to insist the problem is on the customer's end, and it takes a long time to resolve issues. If you want to use it cheaply, you should buy a voucher card from their authorized reseller, Laptop with Linux.
Honestly the only VPN I can really trust, I personally haven't had any hiccups whilst using it: it works flawlessly on degoogled GrapheneOS, Linux, MacOS, and even IOS (even though you probably shouldn't be using IOS if you care about your privacy, it's still nice that mullvad offers a nice IOS client). Also, the lockdown feature has prevented me from leaking my IP a few times. Absolutely the gold standard when it comes to a VPN - not only in terms of privacy, but also in terms of usability.
5 euro a month! Offers high quality VPN service, no logs, high privacy, XMR payment accepted.
Best and trustworthy VPN, also accept XMR as payament. definitely the best option.
The best but they need to swap out IPs once in awhile!!
I've been with them for seven years and the price has always been the same. Inflation doesn't affect them, and their service is wonderful.
Excellent services, using since it since 2 years. Gold standard of privacy
Used it 2 years - Payment in crypto, no personal information, easy to set up for non techie. Can automatically start from the beginning of each connection.
using it now for almost 2 years with no issues!
I've used this for several years. Never an issue and support is helpful. It's probably the only VPN I'd trust.
Been using it for 5+ years, never had an issue
Mullvad is great. No personal information needed; no email, no phone number, not even your full legal name if you pay with cash via anonymous snail mail with no return address
Best vpn ever, crypto even gets a 10% discount and the registration is without any bs and identity free. Now thats something i like to see
XMR - Get Code - Get Incredible VPN. Its thats simple. Got my monitor split connected to multiple device and can smoothly switch the countries on both whenever needed. I'm a customer for life
Mullvad is great. It just works really well & no KYC B.S. ever needed.
anonymity is key these days. Mullvad is one of the few that provide this, love that I can pay with XMR.
It's fast, good, and a trustworthy company.
I have been using Mullvad for a couple of years now and never had any problems. The only thing that is not ideal is that they removed port forwarding but i can live without it.
VPN that is committed to privacy/anonymity. Has advanced features such as Multihop, DAITA, and quantum resistant VPN tunnels. 5/5
great VPN, like any VPN you have to trust them, but they seem to be commited to the cause
Used them for the last 12 months and I have been very happy with the service, their VPNs are fast, anonymous and global. They let you pay in crypto, which always makes me happy.