Mullvad and ProtonVPN are the two VPNs most recommended in privacy-focused communities. They share a 4.2/5 score in our database, the highest privacy-focused ratings available. But they serve different users.
Head-to-head comparison
| Criterion | Mullvad | ProtonVPN |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 4.2/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Speed | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| Jurisdiction | Sweden (14 Eyes) | Switzerland (outside) |
| No-logs audit | Cure53 | KPMG |
| Court-tested | Yes (2023 raid) | No |
| Anonymity (signup) | No email, cash OK | Email required |
| Streaming | 2/5 | 4/5 |
| Free tier | No | Yes (no cap) |
| Port forwarding | Yes | Yes (paid) |
| Price | $5.86/mo flat | $4/mo (1-year) |
| Open-source apps | Yes | Yes |
Jurisdiction: Switzerland wins, Sweden has the proof
ProtonVPN’s Swiss jurisdiction is cleaner on paper. Switzerland is not in the EU, not in any Eyes alliance, and has some of the world’s strongest privacy laws. Swiss courts have a history of resisting foreign data requests.
Mullvad is Swedish, which puts it inside the 14 Eyes. On paper, this is a real concern.
In practice, Mullvad’s court-tested track record changes the calculus. In 2023, Swedish police raided Mullvad’s offices with a warrant and left empty-handed because there was simply no data to take. That’s not a theoretical audit: it’s a real adversarial test that Mullvad passed.
Swedish jurisdiction with a court-tested no-logs policy may be more convincing than Swiss jurisdiction with an audit. The audit tells you the infrastructure matched the policy at one point in time. The police raid tells you the policy held up under real pressure.
Anonymity: Mullvad is significantly ahead
ProtonVPN requires an email address to create an account. That email address is a link between your identity and your VPN usage, even if ProtonVPN never logs your traffic.
Mullvad requires nothing. You get a randomly generated nine-digit account number. No email, no username, no personal information. Payment can be made in cash sent by mail, Bitcoin, Monero, or other privacy-preserving methods. There is no data chain connecting you to your usage.
For users who want maximum anonymity from signup through usage, Mullvad has no equivalent.
Streaming: ProtonVPN wins clearly
Mullvad scores 2/5 on streaming in our database. It does not maintain streaming-optimized servers and its IPs are regularly blocked by Netflix, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, and most major platforms. If streaming matters to you, Mullvad is the wrong tool.
ProtonVPN scores 4/5. Netflix US and Disney+ US work reliably. Other regions are variable. It’s not NordVPN’s 5/5 streaming, but it’s functional for the main platforms.
Free tier: ProtonVPN wins by default
Mullvad has no free tier. ProtonVPN’s free tier has no data cap, includes US, Netherlands, and Japan servers, and covers basic privacy needs. It’s the only free VPN we recommend.
Price: ProtonVPN cheaper on annual plan
Mullvad charges a flat $5.86/month regardless of commitment length. No annual discounts, no two-year deals. This pricing philosophy reflects Mullvad’s position: they don’t want the pressure of locking users into long-term subscriptions to fund marketing.
ProtonVPN’s one-year plan works out to about $4/month. Cheaper for the same period.
Open-source: both, but ProtonVPN goes further
Both Mullvad and ProtonVPN have open-source clients: you can review what the apps actually do. ProtonVPN goes further with Secure Core: servers in privacy-friendly countries that route traffic through a second ProtonVPN server before exiting. This protects against compromised exit nodes.
Who should choose Mullvad
You need maximum anonymity from signup onward. You don’t use streaming services or can tolerate them not working. You want to pay in cash or cryptocurrency with no account email. You want court-tested no-logs proof.
Who should choose ProtonVPN
You want strong privacy with streaming capability. You need a free tier to start. You want Swiss jurisdiction specifically. You’re comfortable providing an email at signup. You care about the Secure Core architecture.
Want to compare all VPNs side by side? Check our full VPN comparison table with scores across 18 criteria.
Both are excellent. The choice comes down to: do you need streaming (ProtonVPN), or do you need maximum anonymity from signup (Mullvad)? For users who specifically need to minimize their data footprint at every step, Mullvad is unique. For everyone else who wants strong privacy plus practical usability, ProtonVPN is the more complete product.
The free tier changes this comparison’s economics
One asymmetry deserves its own section: Proton has a free tier and Mullvad never will. For the privacy-curious buyer this matters practically: Proton can be evaluated indefinitely at $0 (unlimited data, one device, the same audited infrastructure), while Mullvad asks €5 up front, refundable but not free. The trial asymmetry pushes undecided readers toward Proton by default, and fairly so; evidence you can gather costlessly beats evidence you pay to access.
The counterweight is Mullvad’s pricing integrity: flat €5 forever, no intro-versus-renewal games, no tiers, while Proton’s paid plans follow the industry’s discount choreography. Over five years the flat rate and the discounted-then-renewed path converge closer than the marketing suggests; the difference is who does the remembering, your calendar or Mullvad’s principles.
Day-to-day texture: what owners actually notice
Living with each, the differences are tactile. Proton’s apps are fuller: server maps, Secure Core toggles, NetShield blocking, profiles, the visual language of a suite that also sells mail and storage. Mullvad’s apps are austere on purpose: connect, location, quantum-resistant tunnel toggle, done; the entire surface area communicates that features are attack surface. Streaming separates them weekly (Proton’s 3/5 means sometimes; Mullvad’s 2/5 means no), support separates them at 2am (Proton’s email and guides against Mullvad’s terse but competent help), and the account model separates them philosophically every time you log in with an email versus a number.
Neither texture is wrong. Proton feels like privacy software for people who want one ecosystem; Mullvad feels like a tool maintained by people who’d rather you needed nothing else from them.
The closing frame for this pair: both are run by organizations whose privacy positions cost them revenue (Mullvad’s refusal of recurring billing and affiliates, Proton’s free tier and lawsuit budget), which is precisely why both belong on any serious shortlist. Pick Proton for the fuller product and the free start, Mullvad for anonymity as an architecture. Either way you’re funding the side of this industry worth keeping.
(Both providers’ claims in this comparison trace to their published audits and policies as reflected in our Excel dataset; where the two philosophies trade blows above, the scores quoted are the table’s, not vibes.)
One practical send-off: whichever you pick, the loser of this comparison remains worth keeping as the backup install, Proton free costing nothing and Mullvad costing one flat fiver when needed. Privacy stacks tolerate redundancy better than any other software category.
Last framing: this is the rare comparison where both answers are right and the question is which kind of right you need. Decide whether anonymity or completeness is the requirement, and the winner names itself.
Keep reading: Mullvad VPN Review 2026: The Most Anonymous VPN You’ve Probably Never Used and ProtonVPN Review 2026: The Privacy-First Choice (At a Cost).