Mullvad VPN vs Surfshark
Both are free/open-source alternatives to NordVPN. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
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
| Mullvad VPN | Surfshark | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 88 | 42 |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | No | No |
| Local-first | 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.
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
Facts verified 2026-07-14. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.