Mullvad

Mullvad is not the VPN for everyone, but for those who prioritise privacy above all else, it is the undisputed champion. No other VPN provider comes close to Mullvad's commitment to anonymity.

To sign up, you receive a randomly generated 16-digit account number. No email address, no name, no personal details of any kind are required. You can pay with cash (mailed in an envelope), cryptocurrency, or card. If you pay with cash or crypto, there is literally zero connection between your identity and your VPN account.

Mullvad's no-logs policy was dramatically validated in April 2023 when Swedish police raided their offices with a warrant demanding customer data. They left empty-handed — Mullvad had nothing to give. All servers run in RAM only, ensuring no persistent data storage.

At the cutting edge of security technology, Mullvad has implemented DAITA (Defence Against AI-guided Traffic Analysis), which protects against advanced AI-based traffic analysis by padding and shaping your traffic patterns. Post-quantum encryption ensures your data remains secure even against future quantum computing attacks.

Mullvad intentionally does not offer a Chrome extension, believing browser extensions introduce unnecessary attack surfaces. Instead, the desktop and mobile applications provide comprehensive protection. The flat pricing of €5/month (approximately £4.25) has remained unchanged since 2009 — no confusing tiers, no promotional tricks, no aggressive upselling.

With 700+ servers across 49 countries, Mullvad's network is smaller than competitors but every server is carefully maintained and regularly audited. Multi-hop routing, Shadowsocks obfuscation, and port forwarding are all supported.

The trade-off for Mullvad's uncompromising privacy is limited streaming support. It does not reliably unblock Netflix, BBC iPlayer, or most geo-restricted services. If streaming is your priority, Mullvad is not the right choice. But if privacy is paramount, nothing else comes close.