Report

Should I Use Mullvad VPN?

mullvad.net·Analyzed 14 hours ago·9/19/2026·Based on 12 sources

Free the internet from mass surveillance and censorship. Fight for privacy with Mullvad VPN and Mullvad Browser.

Worth it

Worth it

Buy if personal privacy is your top priority: anonymous signup, no-logs, open-source client, and a cheap flat price.

Flat €5/mo, no-logs, anonymous accounts: a top pick for privacy purists; wrong for free-tier hunters or port-forwarding users.

Confidence: High

€5/mo

Starting price

~$5.83, one flat plan (PCMag)

5 devices

Devices covered

per 12-month subscription

No

Free tier

paid only; 10% crypto discount

Bootstrapped

Funding

no outside funding raised (Tracxn)

Value for money

5

Flat €5/month, no upsells

Ease of use

4

GUI described as very simple

Feature depth

3

Bare-bones; port forwarding removed

Security posture

4

No-logs, RAM-only, open source; CVEs patched

Pros

Anonymous numbered accounts; no email or personal info required^²
RAM-only servers and strict privacy-first, no-logging policy^³
Open-source client, publicly auditable on GitHub
Survived 2023 police search warrant with no customer data compromised^⁷
Cheap flat pricing with no pricing or extras gimmicks

Cons

Port forwarding removed; some users demanded refunds^⁵
Several CVEs, including a macOS installer privilege escalation^⁸
A 2023 user-data leak was reported by a researcher
Founder political-donation controversy raised trust questions
Critics call it overrated relative to the hype^⁴

Gotchas

highPort forwarding is gone; self-hosting or remote-access setups will break after switching^⁵
mediumNo free tier or trial; one flat plan, so no cheap intro deal^¹
lowCrypto payments get a 10% discount; card payments effectively cost more^¹
low5-device cap per subscription

Best for

Privacy-maximalist individuals
Identity-protection seekers
Crypto users
Technical/Linux users

Not for

Anyone expecting a free VPN
Users depending on port forwarding
Companies needing centralized admin controls (Guess)
Feature hunters wanting bundled extras

Pricing

Single flat plan

€5/month (~$5.83)

5 devices
No-logs, RAM-only servers
10% discount paying with crypto

Security

Privacy-first: no-logs, RAM-only, open-source; survived a search warrant without data exposure, but several CVEs have shipped.

CVE-2024-55884 buffer overflowBuffer overflow flaw in the Mullvad VPN client disclosed in the vulnerability database.
CVE-2026-32323 (macOS)Affects macOS with versions 2026.1 and below, per NVD detail.^⁹
macOS local privilege escalation in installerMullvad's own GitHub advisory; may allow local privilege escalation.^⁸
Reported user-data leak (2023)Reddit threads say a researcher found Mullvad leaking user data; severity unclear in sources.

What users say

Users praise the simple GUI, cheap gimmick-free pricing, and privacy focus, while some criticize removed port forwarding and call it overrated.

“No pricing or extras gimmicks.”

— Apple App Store review

“Ok, I asked for refund because of port forwarding”

— Reddit, r/mullvadvpn

“Run this VPN for 2 months on Win10”

Alternatives

Compare Mullvad VPN with each alternative.

Proton VPN

Named a solid Mullvad alternative with more features

Mullvad VPN vs Proton VPN

iVPN

Privacy-first pick for Mullvad defectors

Mullvad VPN vs iVPN

NordVPN

Mainstream choice; Mullvad listed as its European alternative

Full analysis

Based on 40+ public sources; many review snippets were truncated, so quotes are short verbatim fragments.

Sources

Pricing - Mullvad VPNmullvad.net
official
Mullvad VPN Review: A Radically Transparent, Privacy-First VPN (PCMag)pcmag.com
review
Mullvad VPN Review - The Most "Anonymous" VPN? (TheBestVPN)thebestvpn.com
review
Mullvad VPN is Overrated (Reddit)reddit.com
review
Reasonable alternatives to Mullvad? (Reddit)reddit.com
review
Read Customer Service Reviews of mullvad.net (Trustpilot)trustpilot.com
review
Mullvad VPN was subject to a search warrant (Mullvad blog)mullvad.net
security
macOS Local Privilege Escalation advisory (GitHub)github.com
security
CVE-2026-32323 Detail (NVD)nvd.nist.gov
security
The Best Mullvad Alternatives (Gizmodo)gizmodo.com
news
Mullvad (Wikipedia)en.wikipedia.org
official
No-logging of user activity policy (Mullvad)mullvad.net
official

Rate this review

Anonymous. You can change your vote.

Loading votes…

Ask a follow-up

Ask if a use case fits. Answers stay inside this report and its sources.

Comments

One queue. No replies. Give a display name first. Limit: 7 comments per day.

No comments yet.

Worth it

Buy if personal privacy is your top priority: anonymous signup, no-logs, open-source client, and a cheap flat price.

Who it's for

Privacy-maximalist individuals
Identity-protection seekers
Crypto users
Technical/Linux users

Who it's not for

Anyone expecting a free VPN
Users depending on port forwarding
Companies needing centralized admin controls (Guess)
Feature hunters wanting bundled extras

Gotchas

Port forwarding is gone; self-hosting or remote-access setups will break after switching⁵
No free tier or trial; one flat plan, so no cheap intro deal¹
Crypto payments get a 10% discount; card payments effectively cost more¹
5-device cap per subscription

Pricing notes

Single flat plan: €5/month (~$5.83) — 5 devices; No-logs, RAM-only servers; 10% discount paying with crypto

Key capabilities

€5/mo — Starting price (~$5.83, one flat plan (PCMag))
5 devices — Devices covered (per 12-month subscription)
No — Free tier (paid only; 10% crypto discount)
Bootstrapped — Funding (no outside funding raised (Tracxn))
Value for money: 5/5. Flat €5/month, no upsells
Ease of use: 4/5. GUI described as very simple
Feature depth: 3/5. Bare-bones; port forwarding removed
Security posture: 4/5. No-logs, RAM-only, open source; CVEs patched

Security notes

Privacy-first: no-logs, RAM-only, open-source; survived a search warrant without data exposure, but several CVEs have shipped.

CVE-2024-55884 buffer overflow. Buffer overflow flaw in the Mullvad VPN client disclosed in the vulnerability database.
CVE-2026-32323 (macOS). Affects macOS with versions 2026.1 and below, per NVD detail.⁹
macOS local privilege escalation in installer. Mullvad's own GitHub advisory; may allow local privilege escalation.⁸
Reported user-data leak (2023). Reddit threads say a researcher found Mullvad leaking user data; severity unclear in sources.

What to use instead

Proton VPN — Named a solid Mullvad alternative with more features https://gizmodo.com/best-vpn/mullvad-vpn/alternatives
iVPN — Privacy-first pick for Mullvad defectors https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/leaving-mullvad-thoughts-about-ivpn/38842
NordVPN — Mainstream choice; Mullvad listed as its European alternative https://european-alternatives.eu/alternative-to/nordvpn

Sources

1.Pricing - Mullvad VPN https://mullvad.net/en/pricing
2.Mullvad VPN Review: A Radically Transparent, Privacy-First VPN (PCMag) https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/mullvad-vpn
3.Mullvad VPN Review - The Most "Anonymous" VPN? (TheBestVPN) https://thebestvpn.com/reviews/mullvad-vpn/
4.Mullvad VPN is Overrated (Reddit) https://www.reddit.com/r/vpnreviews/comments/1hurluo/mullvad_vpn_is_overrated/
5.Reasonable alternatives to Mullvad? (Reddit) https://www.reddit.com/r/mullvadvpn/comments/13wmpxm/reasonable_alternatives_to_mullvad/
6.Read Customer Service Reviews of mullvad.net (Trustpilot) https://www.trustpilot.com/review/mullvad.net?page=5
7.Mullvad VPN was subject to a search warrant (Mullvad blog) https://mullvad.net/en/blog/mullvad-vpn-was-subject-to-a-search-warrant-customer-data-not-compromised
8.macOS Local Privilege Escalation advisory (GitHub) https://github.com/mullvad/mullvadvpn-app/security/advisories/GHSA-c2g6-w5fq-vw3m
9.CVE-2026-32323 Detail (NVD) https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-32323
10.The Best Mullvad Alternatives (Gizmodo) https://gizmodo.com/best-vpn/mullvad-vpn/alternatives
11.Mullvad (Wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullvad
12.No-logging of user activity policy (Mullvad) https://mullvad.net/en/help/no-logging-data-policy