Best for Anonymity

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On Mullvad's website

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• Offers consistent pricing that’s about $5 to $5.50 per month
• Includes cash as one of its payment options

• Only works with Netflix

Best for Overall Reliability

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On NordVPN's website

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• Easily beats out Mullvad’s server count and locations by a fair margin
• Works with every streaming service we tested

• Had generally slower speed test results compared to Mullvad

We recommend NordVPN over Mullvad because it provides more features and streaming support, as well as more affordable pricing. Both VPNs offer high speeds and encryption levels, but Nord also has 24/7 customer support and a more user-friendly interface.

Let’s jump into our Mullvad vs. NordVPN review to see which service makes the most sense for you based on our detailed testing and research.

Mullvad vs. NordVPN at a glance

Mullvad and NordVPN are two popular virtual private networks (VPNs) with differences in price, server count and locations, device compatibility, streaming support. payment options, and customer service.

• Mullvad: Best for anonymity
• NordVPN: Best for overall reliability

How do Mullvad and NordVPN compare?

	Mullvad	NordVPN Our Pick
Price	From €5/mo (about $5-$5.50/mo)	From $3.99/mo
Max # of connected devices	5	6
24/7 customer support
Compatibility	Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, Mozilla Firefox, and certain routers	Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, other smart devices, and certain routers
# of servers	650+ servers in 42 countries	5,000+ servers in 60 countries
VPN protocol	OpenVPN, WireGuard	NordLynx, OpenVPN, IKEv2/IPsec
No-logs policy	No logs	No logs
Unblocks Netflix?
	Read Mullvad Review	Read NordVPN Review

Mullvad offers consistent pricing that’s €5 (about $5 to $5.50) per month no matter which plan you choose. NordVPN’s pricing ranges from $3.99 to $15.69 per month, which is cheaper than Mullvad if you go for a two-year plan. But Mullvad is the better option if you want a month-to-month plan.

NordVPN easily beats out Mullvad’s server count and locations by a fair margin. This could be important if you want more servers and locations to choose from, whether to help increase your internet speeds or stream more content.

Both Mullvad and NordVPN provide plenty of device compatibility, including apps for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux devices. But Mullvad doesn’t make it easy to use its VPN with smart devices and doesn’t have a Fire TV Stick app. NordVPN has a Fire Stick app and provides a Smart DNS feature that you can use with different smart devices.

For streaming support, NordVPN is by far the better option. Mullvad doesn’t advertise supporting any streaming services with its VPN, and we found it doesn’t work with most popular streaming platforms. NordVPN works with everything we tested.

Mullvad includes actual cash as one of its payment options, which is kind of unheard of for an online service. But it’s a way to potentially provide users with more anonymity, and it’s something NordVPN doesn’t offer.

NordVPN provides 24/7 customer service through its live chat function, which is available to everyone regardless of whether you’re subscribed to NordVPN or not. Unfortunately, Mullvad doesn’t provide 24/7 customer support and has no live chat feature.

Mullvad vs. NordVPN: prices

Mullvad costs €5 per month, no matter which plan you choose. That’s about $5 to $5.50 per month, depending on the current exchange rate. If you want to avoid the exchange rate, consider buying a Mullvad VPN on Amazon for about $5 per month (depending on sales tax).

NordVPN costs between $3.99 to $15.69 per month, with its lowest-priced option being a two-year plan for $3.99 per month.

Overall, NordVPN is the cheaper option because you can lock in a sub-$5 monthly price if you choose its two-year plan. It’s nice that Mullvad’s pricing is consistent, as it hasn’t changed its monthly cost since 2009. But NordVPN and other VPNs, including Surfshark, are still cheaper if you want to save money on your VPN subscription.

Both Mullvad and NordVPN provide 30-day money-back guarantees if you want to test their services. Note that Mullvad can’t refund any cash payments because of anti-money laundering regulations.

Mullvad vs. NordVPN: features

Both Mullvad and NordVPN provide plenty of useful features, including strict no-logs policies, high levels of encryption, kill switches, and split tunneling.

NordVPN has over 5,000 servers in 60 countries, while Mullvad only has over 650 servers in 42 countries. This is a huge difference in both the number of servers and the number of server locations.

That generally means you have more options to choose from with NordVPN if a certain server is running slow or if you want to stream content from a particular region.

NordVPN also provides a few additional security features over Mullvad, including an ad blocker and dark web monitoring. These features could be important if you want to avoid annoying ads and trackers while staying on top of identity theft protection.

For example, NordVPN’s dark web monitor can alert you if it detects a leak linked to your provided email address. You can then take steps to increase your online security, such as changing your password, deleting the affected account, or setting up multi-factor authentication.

Security and privacy

We like to look at multiple factors when determining whether a VPN provider’s service is both secure and private. That includes checking whether no-logs policies have undergone independent audits to verify their authenticity as well as seeing where companies are located.

Mullvad is located in Sweden, which is a member of the Fourteen Eyes Alliance. The Fourteen Eyes Alliance is an offshoot of the Five Eyes Alliance, which is a global surveillance organization that shares intelligence with other alliance members.

NordVPN is located in Panama, which isn’t part of the Five or Fourteen Eyes Alliances. But that’s not to say that Mullvad is spying on you and NordVPN isn’t. According to their no-logs policies, neither VPN is spying on you. But we still think it makes sense to consider whether a company might have ties to a global surveillance organization.

Both Mullvad and NordVPN have had independent security audits completed. There hasn’t been any indication that user information is being logged or leaked. You can find Mullvad audit information on its blog. NordVPN audit information is available on its blog, too.

From our testing of both Mullvad and NordVPN, we didn’t see any WebRTC leaks and saw sufficient DNS leak protection. They were both also able to successfully mask our IP address.

Mullvad vs. NordVPN: streaming support

Reviewed by Ben Walker

“For streaming support, NordVPN is by far the better option. Mullvad doesn’t advertise supporting any streaming services with its VPN, and we found it doesn’t work with most popular streaming platforms. NordVPN works with everything we tested.”

We tested Mullvad and NordVPN to see if they work with different streaming services. We performed these tests by connecting to one of the VPNs and then individually testing each streaming service. We then did the same with the other VPN.

We wanted to check if we could connect to different streaming platforms while connected to each VPN and then see if we could load and play content without any issues.

We were able to watch Netflix with Mullvad, but that was the only streaming service we could get to work.

We successfully unblocked all the streaming services we tested with NordVPN, including Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, and Disney+. This wasn’t any surprise, as we’ve always had success using NordVPN to unblock streaming content, even BBC iPlayer.

Nord also had no trouble unblocking Star content on Disney+, which isn’t available in the U.S. and includes loads of additional movies and shows.

Mullvad vs. NordVPN: internet speeds

We tested internet speeds to see if using a certain VPN service significantly reduces the speed of your internet connection or uses up your bandwidth.

A significant reduction in speed would mean anything that affects your daily internet usage, whether that’s browsing websites, playing games, or working. However, we also recognize and understand that VPN services will have some effect on your internet speed, especially if you’re connected to distant servers.

We started our tests by first establishing a baseline speed without connecting to either VPN service.

Mullvad vs. NordVPN speed test results

We ran speed tests by connecting to servers in the U.S. (Salt Lake City), Canada (Vancouver), the U.K. (London), and Australia (Sydney) with each VPN.

There wasn’t too much of a difference in the speed test results between either VPN. In general, Mullvad had better performance, but it’s not like NordVPN was blown away. The largest discrepancy occurred with the Australia tests where Mullvad maintained high download speeds.

Nord’s speed test result was much lower compared to Mullvad while connected to a server in Australia. But you can also expect some fluctuating numbers because of the physical distance between our location and the VPN servers.

Mullvad vs. NordVPN latency comparison

We also checked the latency of our connection while running speed tests with both VPNs. Latency is a general measurement of how long it takes for networks to communicate with each other. The higher the latency, the slower the communication.

The latency numbers were fairly even between Mullvad and NordVPN.

Mullvad vs. NordVPN: compatibility and ease of use

Reviewed by Ben Walker

“Both Mullvad and NordVPN provide plenty of device compatibility, including apps for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux devices. But Mullvad doesn’t make it easy to use its VPN with smart devices and doesn’t have a Fire TV Stick app. NordVPN has a Fire Stick app and provides a Smart DNS feature that you can use with different smart devices.”

We had no issues setting up the Windows apps for Mullvad and NordVPN on our desktop computer. It was simple and straightforward to download the apps from online links and log in after they were installed.

We primarily used the Windows apps for both VPNs, but you can also use their apps for macOS, Android, iOS, and Linux. Both Mullvad and NordVPN also provide functionality with certain routers.

NordVPN has an edge over Mullvad when it comes to smart devices because Nord has a Smart DNS feature that’s easy to use. NordVPN also has an app for Fire TV devices that you can find on the Amazon Appstore. Mullvad doesn’t have Smart DNS or a Fire TV app.

Interface

Both Mullvad and NordVPN have easy-to-use apps. The Mullvad app is minimalistic and much smaller, about one-third the size of the NordVPN app. But we didn’t have any issues using either app to establish secure VPN connections.

We think the NordVPN app provides a better overall user experience because it has a map with servers you can click on, as well as a server list with a search function. Mullvad has a server list and a search function but no clickable map. We found it quicker to use the map in certain situations rather than typing in a specific location.

We also like how Nord provides specialty servers depending on what you’re trying to do. Mullvad doesn’t have the same type of capabilities for its servers.

NordVPN specialty servers include:

• Dedicated IP: Use a static IP address that you know won’t change.
• Double VPN: Route your traffic through two servers.
• Obfuscated servers: Hide the fact that you’re using a VPN.
• Onion over VPN: Route your traffic through a NordVPN server and The Onion Router (Tor) network.
• P2P: Servers that are optimized for P2P file sharing, which could include torrenting.

Mullvad vs. NordVPN: customer service

NordVPN provides 24/7 live chat, while Mullvad doesn’t have a live chat feature at all. Live chat customer service is our favorite way of communicating with most customer support representatives, regardless of the industry. So it’s disappointing to see that Mullvad doesn’t have this option.

You can, however, still find online guides regarding how to use Mullvad VPN, and you can email the Mullvad customer support team. In our experience with emailing Mullvad, they were prompt (though not as quick as live chat) and helpful.

However, you can just use NordVPN’s live chat whenever you need help and start talking with someone very quickly. At least that’s been our experience every time we’ve used Nord’s live chat service. And as long as you’re not getting too technical, Nord’s live chat representatives can typically help you out.

Mullvad vs. NordVPN: payment options

Mullvad and NordVPN provide multiple payment options, including credit or debit cards and cryptocurrency. There’s no truly anonymous way to pay for a VPN, but Mullvad might have the edge over NordVPN with its cash option.

Paying with cash certainly isn’t the easiest payment choice, but it could help protect your anonymity. Mullvad gives you a payment token that you send with your cash payment to its headquarters in Sweden.

Mullvad payment options

• Cash
• Voucher
• Cryptocurrency (bitcoin, bitcoin cash, and monero)
• Credit card or debit card
• PayPal
• Bank wire
• Other options, including Swish, Giropay, eps transfer, Bancontact, iDEAL, Przelewy24

NordVPN payment options

• Credit or debit card
• AmazonPay
• ACH transfer
• Google Pay
• Cryptocurrency (bitcoin, ethereum, and more)

NordVPN vs. Mullvad FAQs

Mullvad vs. NordVPN: which is better?

We recommend NordVPN over Mullvad because Nord is more affordable, easier to use, and provides more streaming support. That’s in addition to NordVPN providing high levels of privacy and security, as well as high speeds during our testing.

Mullvad places a large focus on providing users with anonymity and security. But the average VPN user is likely to get more value from Nord’s overall reliability without sacrificing much, if anything, on privacy or security.

If the protections are relatively equal, we would still much rather use NordVPN because we want its streaming capabilities and low cost combined with 24/7 customer support and fast speeds.

NordVPN is more affordable, easier to use, and better for streaming

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On NordVPN's website

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• Loads of servers for more connection options
• Works with popular streaming services, including Netflix

• Too many confusing plans

Author Details

Ben Walker

About the Author

Ben Walker is a writer at All About Cookies with a passion for all things internet and technology, whether it's using VPNs while away from home or organizing his life with password managers.