Mullvad
The VPN that asks for nothing: a random account number, a flat five euros, and no logs to hand over.
About
Mullvad is a Swedish VPN provider operating since 2009 that is built around a single idea: there should be nothing to link a user to an account. You never give them an email, name, or phone number. Signup hands you a randomly generated 16-digit account number and nothing else, and you can pay with cash mailed in an envelope, Monero, Bitcoin, or gift cards on top of cards and PayPal. The price is a flat EUR 5 per month no matter the term, unchanged since launch, with a 10% discount for crypto payments. The apps are fully open source, every server runs diskless in RAM so a reboot wipes it, and the service has passed multiple independent no-logs audits, most recently reported in 2025.
On the technology side Mullvad runs WireGuard by default, with multihop routing through two servers and DAITA, a research-backed defense against AI-guided traffic analysis developed with universities, plus experimental quantum-resistant tunnels. The tradeoffs are honest ones. The network is small, around 700 servers in 49 countries, streaming services are mostly blocked, accounts allow five devices, and there are no multi-year discounts. Mullvad removed port forwarding and will not chase you with promo emails because it has no way to contact you. For people who rank privacy above everything else, it is the provider most of the privacy press defaults to. There are no published independent speed benchmarks from the company itself.
What it can do
- Anonymous signup with a 16-digit account number, no email or name
- Flat EUR 5/month pricing with no renewal hikes, 10% crypto discount
- Cash, Monero, Bitcoin, and gift-card payments
- Open-source apps on all platforms
- RAM-only servers that wipe on every reboot
- Independently audited no-logs policy
- Multihop routing and DAITA anti-traffic-analysis protection
- Quantum-resistant VPN tunnel option
- WireGuard with kill switch, split tunneling, and leak protection
Setup
Generate an account number on mullvad.net (no email needed), pay EUR 5 by card, PayPal, cash, or crypto, then install the app on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, or Android.
Prerequisites
None; no personal information is collected at signup.
Use cases
Works with
Trust score — 9/10
Scored 9/10 (verified tier, metrics-v1). Evidence: third-party reviews confirm the flat EUR 5/mo price unchanged since 2009, anonymous account-number signup with cash and Monero payments, open-source apps, RAM-only servers, multiple independent no-logs audits with the latest in 2025, and DAITA plus multihop and quantum-resistant tunnels. Strengths: the strongest privacy posture in consumer VPNs with nothing personal to subpoena. Docked for: (1) small network (~700 servers, 49 countries) and weak streaming unblocking; (2) Sweden sits in the 14 Eyes alliance and only 5 devices are allowed; (3) no published independent speed benchmarks. License: proprietary service with open-source clients.
How the trust score is built
Full methodology →- Adoption · stars/downloads, log-scaled vs peers
- 9.0/10
- Maintenance · recency, releases, issue load
- 9.0/10
- Openness · license + docs
- 8.0/10
- Manual review · sanity read + red-flag check
- 9.0/10
- · Founded 2009, Gothenburg Sweden; price unchanged since launch
- · Anonymous signup: random 16-digit account number, no email/name/phone
- · Accepts cash, Monero, Bitcoin, gift cards alongside cards/PayPal
- · Open-source apps; RAM-only diskless servers
- · No-logs policy confirmed by multiple independent audits (latest reported 2025)
- · DAITA anti-AI-traffic-analysis research; multihop; quantum-resistant tunnels
- · ~700 servers in 49 countries; 5 devices; weak streaming unblocking; port forwarding removed
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these sources. Where a claim comes from the provider and couldn't be independently verified, the text says so.