What is Mullvad VPN?
Mullvad is a VPN service that charges a flat €5 per month and asks for no personal information — not even an email address — issuing an account number instead. It states that it keeps no logs of your activity, is based in Sweden, and encourages payment by cash or cryptocurrency. On top of the basic tunnel it offers DAITA to counter AI-guided traffic analysis, quantum-resistant tunnels, multihop routing through more than one server, and DNS handled inside the encrypted tunnel. Its apps are open source and it commissions independent audits of its app and infrastructure. It suits people who want a VPN whose business model does not depend on knowing who they are.
Verified product facts
- Type
- VPN clientEditorially reviewed
- Platform
- macOS
- Pricing
- SubscriptionDeveloper-stated
- Price
- EUR 5Developer-stated
- Open source
- Yes
- Developer
- Mullvad VPNDeveloper-stated
- Relationship to Nuanyue
- Third-party product — not published by NuanyueEditorially reviewed
- Licence
- GPL-3.0
- Current version
- 2026.5Developer-stated
- Official website
- mullvad.net/en
Last updated . Facts marked developer-stated come from the developer and are not independently confirmed; editorially reviewed marks a Nuanyue judgement.
Key features
What Mullvad VPN does at a glance.
Flat €5 per month
With no tiered pricing
Anonymous account
No email address or personal details required
States
No activity logs are kept
Cash and cryptocurrency payments accepted
DAITA
For defending against AI-guided traffic analysis
Quantum-resistant VPN tunnels available
On all supported platforms
Multihop routing
Through two or more servers in separate jurisdictions
DNS queries pass
Through the encrypted tunnel
Obfuscation methods
For reaching the service from restrictive networks
Independent audits of the app and infrastructure
Apps
For Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android
What you can use Mullvad VPN for
- Masking your IP address so your ISP cannot see which sites you visit
- Reaching the open internet from a network that censors or blocks VPNs
- Paying for a VPN without handing over an identity
- Separating DNS resolution from the local network
Who is Mullvad VPN for?
- People who want a VPN that does not require an email address to sign up
- Users who want to pay anonymously, including in cash
- Anyone who needs to circumvent censorship in a restrictive network
Who is Mullvad VPN not for?
- Anyone who wants a free VPN — Mullvad has no free tier
- Users who need to pick a plan by feature level; there is one price and one feature set
- People who need a single-country exit only, since the service is aimed at anonymous, jurisdiction-varied routing
Limitations
- There is no free tier; the service is €5 per month
- The pages Nuanyue checked do not state the number of servers or countries, so neither is recorded here
- The pages Nuanyue checked do not enumerate the supported tunnel protocols, so none is claimed
- Apple Silicon support is not stated in the sources Nuanyue tracks
Strengths and trade-offs
What Mullvad VPN does well, and what to weigh before choosing it. Points marked developer-stated come from the developer’s own material and have not been independently confirmed.
Strengths
- Charges a flat €5 per month rather than tiering features by price.Developer-stated
- Requires no email address or personal information to create an account.Developer-stated
- Accepts cash and cryptocurrency, which supports paying without an identity.Developer-stated
- States that it does not log user activity.Developer-stated
- Offers DAITA to counter AI-guided traffic analysis, and quantum-resistant tunnels.Developer-stated
- Commissions independent audits of its app and infrastructure.Developer-stated
Trade-offs
- There is no free tier, so the service cannot be evaluated at no cost through the vendor.
- The number of servers and countries is not published in the sources Nuanyue tracks.Editorially reviewed
- The supported tunnel protocols are not enumerated in the sources Nuanyue tracks.Editorially reviewed
First-use experience
What the app asks of you when you set it up. Only established facts appear here; anything we could not confirm is left out rather than guessed at.
- Installation
- A macOS package is published by the vendor for direct download.
- First launch Developer-stated
- An account number is generated instead of an email-based login; the app is then signed in with that number.
- System integration Derived
- Installs as a system-wide VPN client covering all traffic on the Mac.
What it does
Mullvad routes your traffic through its servers so that your IP address is not the one the destination sees, and so your internet provider cannot read which sites you visit. The distinguishing part is not the tunnel — that is what every VPN sells — but the account model: there is no email address, no name, and no free tier to trade for your data. An account number is generated, and payment can be made in cash or cryptocurrency.
Beyond the basic tunnel
Several features go past simply relaying traffic. DAITA is aimed at AI-guided traffic analysis, the idea that the shape and timing of encrypted traffic can still reveal things even when the contents cannot. Quantum-resistant tunnels are offered on all supported platforms as protection against future quantum computers. Multihop routes traffic through two or more servers in different locations and legal jurisdictions. DNS queries are resolved inside the encrypted tunnel rather than on the local network, and obfuscation methods exist for networks that block VPNs outright.
What is not recorded here
Mullvad’s pages describe the service’s privacy posture in detail but, on the pages Nuanyue checked, do not publish a server count, a country count, or an enumerated list of supported tunnel protocols. Those are left unestablished rather than filled in from memory.
Questions about Mullvad VPN
How much does Mullvad VPN cost?
€5 per month, at a flat rate. There are no tiers and no free plan, and the price does not change according to how many features you use.
Does Mullvad require an email address?
No. Mullvad states that it does not ask for any personal information, not even an email address, and issues an account number instead. It also encourages anonymous payment by cash or cryptocurrency.Developer-stated
Does Mullvad keep logs?
Mullvad states that it does not log your activity, and that it commissions independent audits of its app and infrastructure.Developer-stated
What is DAITA?
DAITA stands for Defense Against AI-guided Traffic Analysis. Mullvad describes it as a feature in the VPN app that counteracts advanced traffic analysis, which can otherwise infer information about you even when the traffic itself is encrypted.Developer-stated
Alternatives to Mullvad VPN
Apps that could replace this one — the same job, a different trade-off.
Outline
Outline makes it easy to create a VPN server, giving anyone access to the free and open internet.
Both are used to get around censorship, but Outline is a self-hosted Shadowsocks-based tool while Mullvad is a paid VPN service you connect to.
Competitors
Direct competitors: overlapping features aimed at the same users.
Tunnelbear
Simple VPN service for secure browsing and location switching.
Both are subscription VPN services aimed at consumers, but Mullvad avoids asking for an email address while Tunnelbear is built around a conventional account.
Windscribe
VPN with a permanent free tier and open-source desktop clients.
Both are consumer VPN services, but Windscribe offers a free tier while Mullvad charges a flat monthly fee with no free plan.
Similar apps
Related in purpose, but not a straight swap.
Tailscale
WireGuard-based mesh network for connecting devices and services.
Both build encrypted tunnels and offer WireGuard, but Tailscale is for reaching your own private resources while Mullvad hides your traffic from the destination.
Links
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the sources below. Last updated .
