Mullvad VPN vs IVPN
Both are alternatives to NordVPN. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as IVPN vs Mullvad VPN — same comparison, one verdict.
Mullvad VPN and IVPN are closely matched on ownership (88 vs 85) — this one comes down to pricing and to which trade-offs below you can live with.
Mullvad VPN
TOP PICKThe privacy gold standard — flat price, no account, fully audited.
Mullvad is the privacy purist's VPN. There's no email or personal detail at signup — you get a random account number — and the price is a flat €5/month with no tiers or upsells (unchanged since 2009). Its apps are open-source, its no-logs policy has been independently audited many times (Cure53 and Assured), and it accepts cash and Monero for genuinely anonymous payment. It isn't built for streaming gymnastics; it's built so that no one, including Mullvad, can tie your traffic to you. Notably, Mullvad refuses to run an affiliate program — so no site earns a commission recommending it, including us. We still rank it first.
IVPN
Open-source, anonymous signup, a true privacy purist.
IVPN is a small, privacy-first provider with fully open-source apps, a multi-year audit record with Cure53, and a publicly named owner. Signup is anonymous — no email required — and it accepts cash and crypto. It keeps no connection, traffic, timestamp, or bandwidth logs, and deliberately stays lean rather than chasing streaming features. A close cousin of Mullvad in philosophy, for people who want maximum transparency.
Side by side
6 points of comparison, every one read from a verified field. Green marks the side that wins a row outright. A dash means we do not hold that fact — never that it is zero.
| Mullvad VPN | IVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty ScoreOur transparent 0–100 composite for data ownership and exit cost. | 88 | 85 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | No | No |
| Local-first data | No | No |
| License | GPL-3.0 (apps) | GPL-3.0 (apps) |
| Pricing | Flat €5/month, no tiers; anonymous 16-digit account number, no email | From about $6/month; anonymous account, no email required |
Mullvad VPN is Macrostack's recommended NordVPN alternative, so it's our pick here.
Weighing both against staying on NordVPN? Is NordVPN free? What it actually costs →
Mullvad VPN
Strengths
- +No email or personal info — just a random account number
- +Open-source apps, repeatedly audited (Cure53, Assured)
- +Flat €5/month, no price games or renewal hikes
- +Anonymous payment options including cash and Monero
Trade-offs
- −Not focused on streaming unblocking
- −A VPN service you don't self-host (you trust the no-logs audits)
- −Fewer flashy extras than the big commercial VPNs
IVPN
Strengths
- +Fully open-source apps, audited by Cure53
- +Anonymous signup, cash/crypto accepted
- +Publicly named owner and clear trust page
- +Strict no-logs (no connection or bandwidth data)
Trade-offs
- −Pricier than the cheap commercial VPNs
- −Not built for streaming unblocking
- −Smaller server network
Which one fits you
The trade-offs above, turned into a decision. Find the line that describes your team.
Choose Mullvad VPN
if a lower exit cost matters more to you than any single feature, and no email or personal info — just a random account number.
Choose IVPN
if fully open-source apps, audited by Cure53.
Neither, yet
if both carry a real cost you should weigh first — not focused on streaming unblocking, and pricier than the cheap commercial VPNs. If either of those is a dealbreaker for your team, the shortlist is wrong rather than the choice.
Mullvad VPN vs IVPN — common questions
Is Mullvad VPN a better fit than IVPN for vpn & privacy?
It depends on what you are optimising for, and the honest split is this: Mullvad VPN scores 88 to IVPN's 85 on data ownership and exit cost, so it is the safer choice if you care about being able to leave. IVPN earns its place on a different axis — fully open-source apps, audited by Cure53. Neither is a wrong answer for every team; the table above is the actual comparison.
What happens if we want to switch later?
Neither of these is local-first by default, so plan the exit at the point you adopt rather than later. Export what matters on a schedule instead of trusting you can retrieve it on demand — that is the most common way a vpn & privacy migration turns into a project instead of an afternoon.
Are Mullvad VPN and IVPN both alternatives to NordVPN?
Yes — both appear in our NordVPN comparison, which is why they are worth putting side by side. People usually arrive here already having decided to move off NordVPN and now choosing between the two replacements, which is a narrower and much easier question.
More NordVPN head-to-heads
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Facts verified 2026-07-14. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.