I’m looking at getting a vpn, and I’m looking to hear from you guys what makes Mullvad better than the others?
The only thing I keep hearing is that Mullvad had “no-log policy” whatever this means. But most of Mullvad’s servers are rented, like Quardranet which other VPNs that don’t tout about their “no-log policy” also rent from. So how do we make sure that the server provider actually isn’t logging stuff? Can someone help me understand this please
The other thing I keep hearing is that Mullvad doesn’t require an email address, this is not value prop to me since I use aliases to sign up for stuff anyways, so even if the other platforms asks for email, it’s not an email that ties to me. I can also use a prepaid card or gift card to pay for the VPN so they don’t have my personal card details
So with these two out of the way, what makes Mullvad any better than say Windscribe or Proton?
They don’t buy online promotions or maintain a bunch of media sites that pretend to be neutral while ranking VPN sponsors. Their prices are stable without sales - they don’t use low prices to lure in new users only to trap them later. They stay low-profile, without an overflow of cyber fanboys in the community constantly questioning why people aren’t using their product. Excellent product quality, fast servers. Admirable values. We should be grateful that we have a VPN provider like Mullvad.
Not everyone need a VPN for a daily needs for one or two years. Some of them, probably just like me, only require VPN for a few days a week for a month or two.
Interesting you also mention Windscribe, because I also use Windscribe custom plan which is also cheaper than most of VPN out there.
The biggest advantage with Mullvad is that you can simply get a new account number every 6 months or 1 year or whatever period you are comfortable. With other VPNs you have a log in and even if you use an alias, you have to delete that alias, that account with the VPN, with Proton, it is a part of your main Proton account - so you lose everything.
In Mullvad you simply generate a new account number and you are done - for those wishing that level of anonymity. This simplicity is unrivaled.
Mullvad integration with Tailscale was my reason to chose it. I use Tailscale to access my self hosted services at home, and Mullvad runs on my phone within the Tailscale app. So with a single app I kinda have 2 VPN
Check this site out. It’s a very good resource in general and also has detailed info regarding Mullvad vs other VPN-providers. Short version is basically that Mullvad, Proton and IVPN are superior to other providers in a number of ways.
Mullvad really runs Zero knowledge since you can pay subscription via actual mail/money and or crypto.
Plus you don’t give them up your name, mail, debit card info.
I have been using it for few years and chose it since it did not retain any data on a particular account as opposed to larger VPN providers based in the states. The only annoying aspect is that it gets blocked by geo localisation systems if trying to watch content from abroad (i.e. using your Netflix in holiday, or trying to watch a sport event broadcast in a foreign country on their local channel).
Surprised nobody mentioned this yet. Mullvad actually runs their servers entirely in memory, so the moment a particular server is disconnected from power – there is practically no data that is retrievable.
On top of that, Mullvad collects zero information about connections that can link them to you. When you sign up, you do not provide them with personal details like an E-Mail address, but are rather given an account ID which is your only way of accessing your account. Payments with purely anonymous crypto and cash are recommended (I believe they give you a 10% discount for crypto payments to encourage them). In case the server provider were logging request data, it would still be hard to associate them to users due to this system.
As others have already mentioned, they also implement a lot of privacy and security features into their client itself, which not many other providers implement. Mullvad has been an early adopter of Wireguard and has been investing into VPN tech for a while too, if that helps.
EDIT: Forgot to mention that there have been attempts by law enforcement in the past to raid their datacenters, and none have been successful. So they also have a good track record thus far.