Mullvad VPN

Mullvad VPN is unlike any other VPN service on this list, and that is entirely by design. Founded in 2009 in Gothenburg, Sweden, Mullvad was built with a single-minded focus on privacy. The service does not require an email address, name, or any personal information to sign up. Instead, you generate a random account number, and that is your entire identity with Mullvad.

The signup process is remarkably simple. Visit the website, click to generate an account number, and add time to your account. You can pay with card, cryptocurrency, or even by mailing cash in an envelope to their office in Sweden. This level of anonymous payment is unmatched in the VPN industry and demonstrates Mullvad's commitment to allowing truly private access.

Mullvad charges a flat €5 per month (approximately £4.30) with no discounts for annual plans and no upselling. While this means you do not get a cheaper rate by committing long-term, it also means there are no misleading pricing tactics. What you see is what you pay, month after month.

On the technical side, Mullvad is at the cutting edge. They were early adopters of WireGuard and even collaborated with its creator, Jason Donenfeld, during development. Mullvad now offers post-quantum secure tunnels, protecting your data against future quantum computing threats. The DAITA (Defence Against AI-guided Traffic Analysis) feature adds padding and dummy traffic to prevent sophisticated observers from analysing your usage patterns.

All Mullvad apps are open-source and regularly audited by Assured AB, a Swedish security firm. The company owns many of its servers and is transitioning to a fully RAM-only infrastructure. In 2023, Swedish police raided Mullvad's offices but left empty-handed, as the company had no customer data to provide.

For UK users, Mullvad provides servers in London and Manchester with excellent speeds. However, streaming support is deliberately limited. Mullvad does not actively work to unblock streaming services, viewing this as outside its core mission of providing privacy. If streaming is your priority, other VPNs on this list will serve you better.

Mullvad supports up to 5 simultaneous connections and offers apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. The no-frills approach extends to the apps, which are clean, functional, and focused entirely on getting you connected securely.