Mullvad VPN vs Surfshark
Both are alternatives to NordVPN. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as Surfshark vs Mullvad VPN — same comparison, one verdict.
Mullvad VPN is open source (GPL-3.0 (apps)) and Surfshark is not (Proprietary) — so the real question is whether you want to own the vpn & privacy stack or rent it.
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.
Surfshark
The cheapest full-featured commercial VPN — unlimited devices.
Surfshark is the value pick among mainstream commercial VPNs: cheap on a long plan, unlimited simultaneous devices, a big server network, and a no-logs policy audited by Deloitte. It is closed-source (proprietary apps and its own protocol), and it briefly holds your IP during an active session to prevent abuse, deleting it within about 15 minutes of disconnect. If you want a polished, feature-rich VPN and price matters more to you than open-source transparency, it's the strongest commercial option here.
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 | Surfshark | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty ScoreOur transparent 0–100 composite for data ownership and exit cost. | 88 | 42 |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | No | No |
| Local-first data | No | No |
| License | GPL-3.0 (apps) | Proprietary |
| Pricing | Flat €5/month, no tiers; anonymous 16-digit account number, no email | ~$2/month on a 2-year plan; about $15/month month-to-month |
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
Surfshark
Strengths
- +Very cheap on a long plan; unlimited devices
- +No-logs policy audited by Deloitte (2023 and 2025)
- +Feature-rich — streaming, ad/tracker blocking, big network
Trade-offs
- −Closed-source apps and proprietary protocol
- −Temporarily stores your IP during a session (deleted ~15 min after)
- −The cheap price requires a long prepaid commitment
Which one fits you
The trade-offs above, turned into a decision. Find the line that describes your team.
Choose Mullvad VPN
if you want the source and the option to fork it, and no email or personal info — just a random account number.
Choose Surfshark
if very cheap on a long plan; unlimited devices.
Neither, yet
if both carry a real cost you should weigh first — not focused on streaming unblocking, and closed-source apps and proprietary protocol. If either of those is a dealbreaker for your team, the shortlist is wrong rather than the choice.
Mullvad VPN vs Surfshark — common questions
Is Mullvad VPN a better fit than Surfshark for vpn & privacy?
It depends on what you are optimising for, and the honest split is this: Mullvad VPN scores 88 to Surfshark's 42 on data ownership and exit cost, so it is the safer choice if you care about being able to leave. Surfshark earns its place on a different axis — very cheap on a long plan; unlimited devices. 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 Surfshark 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.
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Facts verified 2026-07-14. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.