Proton VPN vs Mullvad

Proton VPN and Mullvad are the two privacy-first picks. Proton is more usable for mainstream use cases (streaming works, you have an account, you can recover access). Mullvad is more uncompromising on privacy (no email, no name, flat €5/month, doesn't try to unblock streaming). Neither is a wrong choice.

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Contender A

Proton VPN

8.5/10

Best privacy-first commercial VPN — Swiss jurisdiction, open source, free tier.

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Contender B

Mullvad

9.0/10

Privacy gold standard. Flat €5/month, no accounts, no fluff. We have no affiliate relationship with them.

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Specs

Side-by-side

Features	Proton VPN	Mullvad
Rating	8.5/10	9.0/10
from	€4.49/mo	€5.00/mo
Jurisdiction	Switzerland	Sweden
Five Eyes	No	No
14 Eyes	No	Yes
Open source	Yes	Yes
Audited	Yes	Yes
Court-tested	No	Yes
Servers	8,500+	700+
Countries	110	49
Devices	10	5
Port forwarding	Yes	No
Netflix	Yes	No
BBC iPlayer	Yes	No
Last verified	2026-05-04	2026-05-04

The verdict

Pick Proton VPN or Mullvad?

Pick A

Choose Proton VPN if

Choose Proton VPN if you want privacy AND streaming, if you'll use the bundle (Mail, Drive, Calendar), if you want a free tier as fallback, or if you prefer Swiss jurisdiction over Sweden.

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Pick B

Choose Mullvad if

Choose Mullvad if privacy is your only goal, you don't care about streaming, you want the cleanest possible commercial relationship (no account, anonymous payment), and you appreciate that the company makes no attempt to upsell you.

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Frequently asked

Frequently asked questions

Is Sweden (Mullvad) or Switzerland (Proton) the better privacy jurisdiction?

Switzerland on paper. Switzerland is outside Five/Fourteen Eyes; Sweden is in 14 Eyes. In practice, Mullvad's design (no accounts, no payment data tied to identity, RAM-only servers) eliminates most data that could be shared, and the 2023 police raid validated this. Proton's design is also strong but less radical.

Can I stream Netflix with either?

Proton VPN: yes, Plus tier reliably unblocks Netflix and BBC iPlayer. Mullvad: no — it doesn't try.

Which is cheaper?

Mullvad is €5/month flat. Proton VPN Plus is around €4.49/month on a 2-year plan but more on monthly billing. Mullvad never goes up; Proton's renewal price is closer to €10/month at full retail.