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Add to SafariWhen comparing NordVPN vs Mullvad, the Slant community recommends Mullvad for most people. In the question“What is the best VPN provider? ” Mullvad is ranked 1st while NordVPN is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose Mullvad is:
According to Mullvad, they retain no traffic information or metadata. Here is their statement in 2014 when inquired by TorrentFreak if they store _any_ logs that would enable linking an IP address and a timestamp to a user: > No. This would make both us and our users more vulnerable so we certainly don’t. To make it harder to watch the activities of an IP address from the outside we also have many users share each address, both for IPv4 and our upcoming IPv6 support.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Servers in 40+ countries
Server locations are nicely spread and covers many users. NordVPN constantly adds new servers to their service.
Pro Unlimited speed & bandwidth
NordVPN does not limit your Internet connection speed or bandwidth.
Pro Double VPN
Double VPN is a solution where you traffic uses two hops and is encrypted at both nodes. It gives a double security for the users.
Pro Includes a kill switch
Pro Tor over VPN
A very secure solution where your traffic is firstly encrypted at the NordVPN node and then it is directed to the Tor network where it is router through multiple hops and then exits at one of the Tor network exit nodes.
Pro Cheap if snagged on a sale
You can buy it for $107.55/3 Yr - that's $2.99 a month, which is pretty reasonable for the quality and development of service that can be found at Nord.
Pro Outside of Five, Nine, and Fourteen Eyes countries
Located outside of countries intent on degrading your privacy.
Pro Six simultaneous devices allowed
Users can use the same VPN account on six devices at the same time. Clients who have a lot of computers and smart-phones at home can set up their router with VPN which will use only 1 device slot and will provide VPN connection to all connected devices.
Pro User-friendly custom software for Windows
A very user-friendly custom software for Windows is a great VPN software solution for every user.Features include auto-connection, default protocol selection, process Kill-switch. More features are being developed such as DNS sink-hole and port-forwarding.
The software also comes with a 3-hour free trial hence new users can try this software out.
Pro Compatibility
NordVPN VPN service can be used on every device that is compatible to connect to a VPN.
Pro Allows filesharing
NordVPN is one of the best VPNs for filesharing. It also unblocks Netflix US, which seems impossible with other VPN's.
Pro No logs are kept
This aspect of their service is fairly straightforward - no logs are kept, whatsoever.
Pro Free security tools
For people who do not have an ability to purchase privacy tools but would like to use it, NordVPN offers free security tools such as Encrypted Chat, Secret Notes, Free Proxy List, Web Proxy, Google Chrome Web Proxy Extension.
Pro A strong encryption
NordVPN uses strong encryption algorithms to encrypt their user traffic:
- OpenVPN - 2048bit SSL
- L2TP - 256-bit AES
- PPTP - 128-bit MPPE
Pro 24/7 Customer Service
Customer service is available 24/7 via email and live chat.
Pro Easy to install
Pro Dedicated IPs
Pro No logs are kept
According to Mullvad, they retain no traffic information or metadata. Here is their statement in 2014 when inquired by TorrentFreak if they store any logs that would enable linking an IP address and a timestamp to a user:
No. This would make both us and our users more vulnerable so we
certainly don’t. To make it harder to watch the activities of an IP address from the outside we also have many users share each address, both for IPv4 and our upcoming IPv6 support.
Pro Token-based account system
When signing up, a sufficiently long random number is assigned and given to you which serves as both username and password, without any need to provide a name or e-mail address or any other identifying information.
Pro No traffic or protocol restrictions
Mullvad allows using any and all protocols that the user wishes, no traffic is restricted.
Pro Multiple payment methods
Bitcoin, cash, bank transfers, PayPal, credit cards are accepted.
Pro DNS leak protection
In the event of a DNS leak, not all traffic is routed through a secure network. Mullvad helps solve this issue by offering DNS leak protection.
Pro Supports WireGuard
WireGuard is an extremely simple yet fast and modern open-source VPN program built using the latest cryptography. It's faster, simpler, leaner, and more useful than both IPSec and OpenVPN.
Pro Includes a kill switch
It's possible to set up the software to disconnect from Internet in case the connection to the VPN service is lost to not expose traffic in case of service failures.
Pro Based outside of the Five Eyes
Mullvad operates out of Sweden, and so is not exposed to the same privacy-corresive laws as it would be if it were in the US or another “Five Eyes” country.
Pro Multi-hop
Allows hopping from one location to another for additional security. This is great because everything "hops" through multiple locations effectively providing an additional mask and making it harder to trace the route back to the source.
Pro Has native applications for all popular platforms
The platforms that Mullvad can run on include: Windows, OSX, Linux, Android, and iOS. Additionally, Mullvad offers a source code that allows the program to be run on virtually any system.
Pro Offers a free trial
One of the things that makes Mullvad's free trial attractive is the lack of personal information asked to sign up. Once downloaded, the free trial lasts three hours.
Pro Not expensive
Only 5 € by month with a 3 hours trial period.
Pro No personal information required to register
Autogenerated account number, no email accepted.
Pro Easy to set up
Easy to set up Windows client.
Pro Great customer service
Mullvad customer service is helpful and responds quickly.
Pro Short-term contract
You pay when you need it, at least for one month. No pushy salesmen model, you decide when you need it.
Pro VPN Client is both Open Source and Free Software
The VPN Client is both Open Source and Free Software (GPLv3), code can be reviewed at https://github.com/mullvad/mullvadvpn-app - issues can be reported at https://github.com/mullvad/mullvadvpn-app/issues
Pro Firefox
Cons
Con When breach happens, they wait a few months before telling customers about it
NordVPN said it found out about the breach a “few months ago,” but the spokesperson said the breach was not disclosed until today because the company wanted to be “100% sure that each component within our infrastructure is secure.”
So instead of allowing their customers to do their own damage limitation, they left their customers in the dark and continued to expose them to a breach they weren't sure they had fully contained.
Con Shady marketing
Fake countdown and always on sale.
Con Speed flucuates
Most of the time download speeds are great, however when rush hours occur (for instance, during the weekend), speed drops drastically.
Con P2P traffic only allowed on certain servers
If you transmit any kind of BitTorrent P2P traffic on certain servers, all of your active connections will be automatically terminated and you will be transferred onto a different server where file-sharing traffic is "allowed". This is not mentioned in the Terms of Service, and is only vaguely mentioned in the FAQ: "Yes, we allow P2P traffic on certain servers. The server list that allows it: Romania, Russia, Sweden, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Canada."
This suggests that NordVPN might do live deep packet inspection on your VPN traffic in order to determine if it's BitTorrent traffic or not.
Con Hid data breach
Con Reports of poor customer service
Con Basically impossible to connect with Amazon.com
Sometimes it loads a page on Amazon, but probably 90% of the time, it fails. Must disable Nord to do any shopping on the site.
Con Request for refunds sometimes ignored
Though most refund requests get handled promptly.
Con You have to input your username and password and then have another login sent to verify it's you
Can get it sent to your mobile phone as a one time password text, but very annoying. Or to another phone/tablet with Amazon App and get a Push.
Con No longer supports port forwarding.
As of 2023-07-01, Mullvad VPN no longer supports port forwarding due to abuse.
Con Seemingly permanent kill-switch
Client, if shut down, often seemed to keep the kill-switch enabled, with no way to reset besides a rest of the hardware.
Con French Mullvad Windows Client
Sometimes for a reason of French language, the Windows client does not connect to the chosen server. It can be bypassed by installing their beta client.
