Updated Oct 5, 2026
VPN Services
Mullvad
Swedish VPN with number-based accounts and one flat monthly price
Mullvad at a glance
from our research
Swedish VPN for privacy-minded users; sign-up generates an account number and asks for no email
Pay by cash in the post, crypto, card or PayPal; servers run from RAM with no persistent storage
One account covers 5 devices, and the network has 566 servers in 50 countries
€5 a month including VAT, the same rate whether you pay monthly or for a year at a time
Overview
What is Mullvad?
Mullvad is a VPN service from Mullvad VPN AB, a company in Gothenburg, Sweden, that says it has put privacy first since 2009. It sells one plan with no tiers. Instead of creating a login with an email address and password, you generate an account number on Mullvad's site, and sign-up asks for no personal information at all.
You then add time to that account. Mullvad accepts cash sent by post with a payment token generated on the site, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Monero, bank wire, card, PayPal, Swish and several European bank payment methods, and an account can be topped up month by month or a year at a time at the same rate. The network lists 566 servers in 50 countries and 91 cities. Every server runs from RAM with no persistent storage and is either owned by Mullvad or rented as a dedicated server. A kill switch stops all network traffic when the connection has problems, and the help center recommends the WireGuard protocol.
Apps are available for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android, and one account works on up to 5 devices. The Windows, macOS and Android apps include split tunneling, and the desktop apps add multihop and Shadowsocks. The VPN app is open source, and Mullvad publishes outside audits of its apps and servers. Billing is a flat monthly rate in euros, including VAT.
Our verdict on Mullvad
Mullvad is built for people who don't want their VPN account tied to who they are. Sign-up asks for no email address or personal details, the account is a generated number, and you can pay for it with cash in an envelope or with Monero. That limits what Mullvad holds about a customer before any question of logging comes up. The rest of the setup points the same way: servers run from RAM with no persistent storage, the app is open source, and Assured AB's server audit, concluded in May 2022, found no information leakage or logging of customer data. Mullvad's download pages list more recent checks too, a security assessment by Leviathan in February 2026 and an app audit by X41 D-Sec in November 2024.
The trade-offs are reach and flexibility. An account covers 5 devices, half of what Proton VPN's VPN Plus allows, and there's no higher tier to buy when a household needs more. The network is 566 servers in 50 countries, so anyone who needs an exit in a less common country should check the server list before paying. There's no free plan or trial, and the 14-day money-back guarantee doesn't cover cash payments.
Pricing is the easy part. Mullvad charges €5 a month including VAT, and the rate is the same whether you top up one month or a whole year, so there's no introductory price to expire and no renewal increase to budget for; Mullvad says the price hasn't changed since it started. Paying with accepted cryptocurrencies takes 10% off. Billing is in euros, so for US buyers the dollar amount moves with the exchange rate.
Choose Mullvad if keeping your identity out of the account matters more to you than device count or country choice. If you need more devices, Proton VPN's VPN Plus covers 10 at a time and Proton also has a free plan to try first, while Surfshark doesn't cap simultaneous connections at all.
Written by Lokesh Kapoor
Pros & cons
Mullvad pros and cons
What it does well
- Sign-up asks for no personal information; an account number replaces email and password
- Takes cash by post, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Monero, with 10% off crypto payments
- Flat €5 a month with no introductory rate, so there's no renewal increase
- Open-source app; Assured AB's 2022 server audit found no logging of customer data
Where it falls short
- One account covers 5 devices, and there's no higher tier that raises the limit
- No free plan or trial, and the 14-day money-back guarantee excludes cash payments
- 566 servers in 50 countries, against Proton VPN's 140+ countries
Editor's assessment from vendor documentation and published pricing
Pricing
Mullvad pricing
Mullvad's paid plans start at €5/month, right at the $5 median across the 5 tools in our VPN Services ranking.
Mullvad VPN
per month, flat rate
- Up to 5 devices per account
- Account number generated on signup
- Pay by cash, crypto, card or PayPal
- 14-day money-back guarantee, not for cash
Usage: One flat rate including VAT, whether you top up one month or a full year. Accepted cryptocurrencies get a 10% discount.
Checked against Mullvad VPN AB's pricing page on October 5, 2026 · see the full breakdown
Capabilities
Mullvad features
Checked against the same feature list as every other tool in its category.
Privacy & Trust
- Included:Anonymous signup & paymentRegister without an email address and pay in cash or cryptocurrency.
- Included:Independently audited no-logsA third-party firm has verified and published that the no-logs claim holds.
- Included:Open-source appsClient source code is public and independently reviewable.
- Included:Privacy-friendly jurisdictionIncorporated outside major intelligence-sharing arrangements.
- Included:RAM-only serversServers run from memory, so a reboot wipes everything and nothing persists to disk.
Network & Speed
- Not included:Dedicated IP optionA static IP address for services that block shared VPN addresses.
- Not included:Large global server networkThousands of servers across many countries for choice and load spreading.
- Not included:Reliable streaming accessConsistently works with major streaming services rather than intermittently.
- Included:WireGuard protocolModern protocol offering substantially better speed than legacy options.
Apps & Extras
- Included:Ad and tracker blockingBlocks ads, trackers and malicious domains at the DNS level.
- Not included:Free tierA free plan that stays usable, rather than a limited trial.
- Included:Kill switchBlocks all traffic if the VPN connection drops, preventing exposure.
- Included:Split tunnellingRoute selected apps through the VPN and the rest directly.
- Not included:Unlimited simultaneous devicesOne subscription covers every device you own without a connection cap.
Ecosystem
Mullvad integrations
- Router firmware
- Tor
- WireGuard
Alternatives
Top Mullvad alternatives
Tools that do the same job, from the same category.
Proton VPN
Best for privacy-minded users who want audited no-logs claims and a free plan to start on
NordVPN
Best for households with up to 10 devices that want a VPN with audited no-logs claims
Surfshark
Best for households that need one VPN plan to cover an unlimited number of devices
Fit check
Will Mullvad fit your team?
Support
- Email support
- Knowledge base
Training
- Documentation
Deployment
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux
- iOS
- Android
Typical users
- Freelancers
- Small businesses
FAQs
Mullvad FAQs
Written by our editorial team.
How much does Mullvad cost?
Mullvad costs €5 a month, including VAT. It's one flat rate: you can top up for a single month or a full year and pay the same per month, with no introductory price and no renewal increase. Paying with accepted cryptocurrencies takes 10% off. The price is set in euros, so what a US card is charged depends on the exchange rate. There's no free plan or free trial. See Mullvad pricing for the plan details.
Does Mullvad need an email address?
No. Mullvad generates an account number on its site, and that number is what you log in with; the sign-up asks for no personal information, not even an email address. You then add time to the account with a payment method of your choice, which can be cash sent by post with a payment token from the site, a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or Monero, or a card, PayPal or bank payment.
Does Mullvad keep logs?
Mullvad says it doesn't log traffic, DNS requests, connections, IP addresses or user bandwidth. Assured AB audited two WireGuard servers and one OpenVPN server in an audit concluded in May 2022 and found no information leakage or logging of customer data. Mullvad's download pages list a later security assessment by Leviathan, from February 2026, and an app audit by X41 D-Sec from November 2024. Its servers run from RAM with no persistent storage.
How many devices can I use with Mullvad?
One Mullvad account works on up to 5 devices. Mullvad sells a single plan, so there's no higher tier that raises the limit. Apps are available for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android. If you need to cover more devices, see Mullvad alternatives, or Mullvad vs Proton VPN for a comparison with a provider that allows 10 devices on its paid plan.
Can I get a refund from Mullvad?
Yes, within 14 days of paying, unless you paid in cash. Mullvad offers a 14-day money-back guarantee but excludes cash payments because of anti-money laundering regulations. There's no free trial, so the refund window is the way to try the service. Since a single month costs the same €5 as each month of a yearly top-up, starting with one month doesn't cost extra.
Sources & methodology
Product details come from Mullvad VPN AB's public website and documentation (Sweden). Every plan and price was checked against the vendor's pricing page on October 5, 2026. We haven't tested this product hands-on; the verdict is a desk assessment. How we research and rank tools
- Founded 2009
- 6 languages supported
- mullvad.net
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