Mullvad VPN Review and Pricing 2026: A No-Nonsense Approach to Privacy

Mullvad Pricing and Buying Experience

Right out the gate, Mullvad shows its commitment to user privacy. Typically, when we set up a VPN, we start by providing some type of personal information to create an account. With Mullvad, the system generated a unique account number which served as our only identifier. No name, no email address, and no passwords, so keep that account number only to yourself.

Next, we accessed our account dashboard and found where we could top-up our account. There are several payment methods available, from conventional credit card and PayPal to more anonymous options like Bitcoin and cash by mail (no digital trail). Even though Mullvad only advertises their rate in euros, you can still pay in U.S. dollars.

We actually did the cash by mail method. We sent $5.75 to their Swedish office with just our account number written on paper. It got credited to our account after 10 business days, but Mullvad warns it can take up to three weeks during busy periods.

Mullvad Pricing and Payment Methods

We waited two weeks and couldn’t use Mullvad while our cash by mail payment was being processed.

There’s only one price — $5.75 per month — regardless of how you pay and how long you want your subscription to be.

Compared to VPN prices across the industry, Mullvad is affordable if you’re paying monthly but quite expensive if you’re looking for a VPN for long-term use. That’s because VPNs normally charge a lower monthly rate the longer your subscription is.

Take NordVPN’s pricing, for example. On a month-to-month basis, it costs over double what Mullvad charges. However, once you commit to a year or more upfront it starts to cost less. On a two-year plan, NordVPN only costs $3.09, about $2 less per month than Mullvad.

Refunds

Like most VPNs, Mullvad offers a money-back guarantee. It’s only good for up to 14 days from your date of purchase, and the process is entirely dependent on your payment method. Cash by mail and cryptocurrency payments are non-refundable at all.

The money-back guarantee, if available, serves as a risk-free trial. Just note that the best VPN trials offer longer refund periods. NordVPN and Surfshark both have a 30-day money-back period, while CyberGhost lets you file for a refund for up to 45 days.

Mullvad Core VPN Features

After two weeks of waiting, our Mullvad PC app notified us that our VPN is ready to work. We got started right away by checking and testing its core features:

• Servers and server locations
• Privacy policy
• Kill switch
• Split tunneling
• Advanced security options

Servers and Server Locations

Mullvad operates a measly server network compared to our top-pick VPNs. They have servers located in countries, whereas Proton VPN (another privacy-focused VPN) has thousands of servers in 120+ countries. That said, we didn’t have any issues connecting to Mullvad’s servers, even during peak hours. This means they at least have enough servers to support the needs of all current users.

We also like that they run on RAM, which doesn’t retain data after every reboot. This is another privacy measure, although pretty much all the top VPNs now use RAM-based servers, including NordVPN and Surfshark.

>> Learn More: Our 2026 Proton VPN Hands-On Review

Privacy Policy

We had Gabe Turner, our Chief Editor and a lawyer, rate Mullvad’s privacy policy, and he gave it two thumbs up. It’s easy to understand, clear, and transparent. The privacy policy has a “no-logs” clause, which means the VPN doesn’t store any VPN activity. This is pretty much the standard for top-tier VPNs.

We weren’t able to verify the “no-logs” claims, but Mullvad has gone through independent audits by Cure53, Assured AB, and a number of other security firms. According to Cure53’s latest assessment (which included penetration testing Mullvad’s servers):

“The team’s overall verdict on the current security posture of the assessed items within the scope is very positive. The attention to detail and deliberate application of security concepts clearly indicate that the infrastructure team is highly knowledgeable about, and committed to sound security practices and awareness.”

Those assurances are important, especially because Sweden (Mullvad’s HQ) is a part of the extended 14 Eyes surveillance alliance that shares communication intelligence data with co-members. Even if member countries request user data from Mullvad, the VPN company has nothing useful to share.

>> Learn More: The Best No-Logs VPNs of 2026

Kill Switch

Mullvad’s kill switch stays on the moment you click the connect button. There’s no way to turn it off. A VPN kill switch blocks your internet connection if the VPN app experiences problems and disconnects unexpectedly.

We like that Mullvad’s app has a clear indicator for when the kill switch is blocking internet traffic. It looks like a green lock icon with a red dot inside. When we tested Private Internet Access’ kill switch, it just cut out our internet connection without any notice. That threw us off; we even restarted our office router because we thought we were having Wi-Fi problems.

Split Tunneling

Split tunneling works differently on Mullvad compared to other services we’ve reviewed. Instead of selecting specific apps to bypass the VPN, you can exclude certain IP addresses or ports. We found this approach more technical, but ultimately more flexible for advanced users. The feature proved particularly useful when accessing local network devices such as our wireless printer while maintaining VPN protection for internet traffic.

Advanced Security Options

Mullvad includes several advanced features we don’t typically see in other VPNs:

• “Lockdown mode” blocks all traffic except through the VPN tunnel. It’s sort of like an enhanced version of a kill switch.
• Custom DNS prevents DNS leaks, which could compromise your anonymity. The app allowed us to choose between Mullvad’s private DNS, Cloudflare, or Quad9.
• Obfuscation disguises VPN traffic as regular HTTPS traffic. During testing, it bypassed a restrictive network we created designed to block VPN traffic.
• “Bridge mode” is designed for countries where VPNs are blocked or monitored. It routes your traffic through Shadowsocks proxies first, which are known for their ability to bypass firewalls.

Performance and Speed Test Results

We conducted speed tests across 15 different server locations using our 500 Mbps office internet. Throughout the tests, Mullvad delivered average download speeds of 310 Mbps on nearby servers (within 500 miles) and 180 Mbps on distant servers (over 3,000 miles). These results place Mullvad in the middle tier of VPN performance. It’s way behind the fastest VPNs we tested, but still faster than ProtonVPN’s free tier (which has speed capping).

Note that we used the default WireGuard protocol in all those tests. WireGuard is a newer and faster alternative to the well-established OpenVPN protocol. We also ran some unofficial tests with Mullvad’s OpenVPN configuration and found that it’s usually around 20 percent slower than WireGuard.

We’re not big fans of Mullvad’s speed performance, but we wouldn’t call it a deal-breaker. We were still able to stream 4K YouTube videos and even use Mullvad for gaming. The ping (latency) stayed below 50 ms on regional servers, though we experienced occasional packet loss during peak gaming hours.

>> Related: The Best VPNs for Gaming – Tested for Speed and Security

Our Mullvad User Experience

We’ll hand it to Mullvad; the user experience has improved immensely since we last tested the VPN in 2023. The apps used to feel extremely utilitarian, but now they’ve added lighter aspects such as a dynamic map that shows where the VPN server you’re connected to is located.

The app is still utility-heavy, and there are plenty of customizations you can make. Normally, we’d put that under the pros column, but Mullvad could do better in guiding users how to use its advanced features. For VPN newbies out there, using Mullvad can sometimes feel like being handed a power tool with no user manual. Unlike the user-friendly Surfshark app we tested, Mullvad’s interface might confuse non-technical users.

On the plus side, you don’t need to make a lot of customizations to make Mullvad private and secure. It’s already set up like that by default, so you only need to customize if you want a special type of connection or have a unique use case (e.g. using a VPN on a restrictive network).

A Note on Using Mullvad for Streaming

Besides Mullvad’s middling speed, we’d like to note another one of Mullvad’s downsides — its inability to bypass streaming sites that block VPNs.

To be fair, Mullvad doesn’t advertise streaming capabilities. According to our research into VPN usage, more than half of VPN users use VPNs for security, while another 40 percent use VPNs for privacy. They are Mullvad’s target audience.

Still, being unable to access streaming sites like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+ and BBC iPlayer eliminates a popular use case for many VPN users. We tried several Mullvad servers outside the U.S., and every single one of them was blocked by those streaming platforms.

>> Proven Alternatives: The Best VPNs for Streaming in 2026

Mullvad vs. The Competition

Mullvad draws a lot of comparisons with NordVPN because both VPNs are extremely privacy-focused. They both have advanced security features, an audited no-logs policy, and core VPN features. We recommend both VPNs if you want online privacy.

That said, NordVPN shines brighter in more areas than Mullvad. For starters, it’s more affordable as a VPN for long-term use. And if you’re looking to improve your online privacy, you’re going to want to use a VPN long-term.

NordVPN also works great for streaming. It’s one of the best VPNs for Netflix, and it also worked great as a VPN for streaming Disney Plus. NordVPN was among the fastest when we compared VPN speeds. It notched a less than 10 percent decrease in VPN speeds during testing.

Essentially, we think NordVPN is a more well-rounded option that can work for pretty much anyone looking for a VPN, whereas Mullvad is a more specialized solution for privacy-conscious users.

>> Deeper Comparison: Mullvad vs. NordVPN