ProtonVPN or Mullvad? Why would you choose one over another?
I'm thinking about paying for a VPN, I currently don't use one.
I'd like to use Mullvad but they don't seem to have regional prices, while Proton does.
I wonder if Proton is still a reliable option, Proton is 60% cheaper in my country, probably because regional pricing (but I didn't check if it's really the case).
If anyone has any other suggestion I'd like to hear it.
I chose Mullvad because they don't ask for any personal details and you can pay anonymously, which means that their service is privacy protecting by design. You don't have to rely so much on trust.
Proton seems to be a large and rapidly expanding company which looks like it's trying to be a more privacy respecting competitor to Google's many services. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, I prefer companies that value stability over rapid expansion. I also don't like relying on a potential single point of failure for everything. I have a Proton e-mail account but I don't use any of their other services because I don't want everything in the same place.
I like mullvad because I can pay for it with vouchers and have nothing to tie my payment to my account#
I don't think any other VPN can do that.
Theres also the fact that mullvad was raided by the (Swedish)police and even though they fully complied, the police ended up walking away with nothing because mullvad had nothing to give them.
Proton on the other hand, will at the very least be storing your email, payment info, and possibly other info in your account that mullvad won't. I also don't like how they have aligned themselves with conservative politics.
You can also pay with cash in an envelope
I use Proton VPN only because I use Proton everything else. If not, I'd probably consider Mullvad. But I'm in the US and regional pricing doesn't apply.
Same. Use Proton to get the suite of tools for 1 price. Mullvad if you just need a VPN.
Mullvad.
All you are to them is an account number. that's it. no name, no email, nothing. you can even pay in cash. while mullvad's GUI is still meh their CLI is top notch and very quick.
The main difference I see between the two is that Mullvad no longer offers port forwarding services and ProtonVPn does offer port forwarding services.
This can make a big difference based on your use-case scenarios. If you are gaming and need port forwarding or are torrenting and need port forwarding Protonvpn is the better choice.
I use Mullvad and game. Split tunneling lets you bypass the VPN to game. Port forwarding is useful for torrenting. Probably a few other things too.
"On 29 May 2023, Mullvad announced that they would be removing support for port forwarding, effective on 1 July 2023."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullvad
https://mullvad.net/en/blog/removing-the-support-for-forwarded-ports
PIA is also a good option if port forwarding is important to you.
Heads up PIA got acquired by an ad company a bit ago
What do the downvoters recommend if port forwarding is important?
Removed by Moderator — Modlog
I've been using them for years, it's been good for all of my uses. Their prices are cheaper than what I see from other companies. I haven't used their dedicated IP service yet, but if it is as decent as the rest of their services it should be good.
I used to have Mullvad and switched to Proton because I use pretty much their entire suite...
If you don't need port forwarding, I think Mullvad is superior in everything. Such a great service, highly recommend it.
I would recommend mullvad.
the ceo of proton did idicate support of the trump and the republican party and while they backtracked and apologized and all that, is it out that atleast some in the company think like that and i dont trust them anymore.
and trust is number 1 priority for vpn.
Mullvad. Excellent service, never had an issue. Used to use Proton, but their CEO sucks ass
I use both (not suggesting that). I mostly use Proton because it's already included in my plan, and they seem to have more connections to choose from, but I frequently have to switch because the one I'm on starts to get really slow. I like Mullvad's flat pricing and lack of commitment (they even accept cash), and it was an easier setup on Linux (at least Arch).
Mullvad because it accepts cash payments.
FYI, Proton also accepts cash.
I've never tried Mulvad, but Proton, while it has LOTS of exit nodes, which is good for avoiding blocks, is quite bad at any individual node remaining up and recovering automatically on an outage. If your use case is actively connecting for watching youtube or netflix or whatever in another country on a laptop that's mostly off or not VPNed and you don't care, that's great, but if you want to VPN for bittorrent or another always connected purpose from a server or VPS...
That surprises me because I've been running Proton behind a Gluetun container for months without any issues.
Mullvad is more private but Proton VPN still supports port forwarding.
Both options are good. I think for the most part it boils down to wanting a single product or suite of products.
While you certainly can get just one proton service, the idea of having an easy entry point into multiple privacy focused solutions is what they are going for.
The pro argument for that is cheaper overall, simpler to get into and mange, etc. The con argument is an eggs in one basket philosophy isn't ideal because you can have a single point of failure. This is all subjective to your personal threat model.
Proton mail has an alias feature that I rather enjoy. Does anyone know an alternative service for that. I was looking to leave the proton ecosystem. Switching to mullvad is easy enough for vpn but im also looking at email etc.
i too miss the alias service, and i dont really know an alternative aswell.
The issue is kinda, that any alias service is basically just forwarding your mails ... so it is really hard to trust anyone with that
and a private domain is not really a solution, for privacy
and like tuta does offer 15 or 30 (but 30 is super expensive) permanent aliases.. which is like nice but does fill up super quickly if used like how it is used for proton
Proton mail
OP asked about VPNs.
I personally prefer the Mullvad client since, at least on MacOS, it allows you to exclude specific apps from the VPN, while the ProtonVPN client does not! I still use ProtonVPN instead though, since it's also significantly cheaper for me.
For sailing the seas, I like CryptoStorm.is Good speed with port forwarding.
Proton had a Black Friday sale and that's the reason it prevailed over Mulvad. Every penny matters when you're a pensioner.
I'd rather compare IVPN vs Mullvad.
I like mullvad i use their dns filtering and their socks5 proxies however it does lack port forwarding so it sucks for torrenting.
Definitely Mullvad, the whole point of VPN is to stay private and Proton does not accept crypto while Mullvad does.
If the VPN has your payment details then any privacy just goes out the window.
Vote for the unlisted AirVPN because extremely easy to use, very moderate pricing, and specifically why I needed it, port forwarding.
Mullvad VPN is more private but I find I'm being asked to prove I'm human more often. Proton VPN I don't trust with anything like piracy because they're a large company with too much to lose by being overly private.
EDIT: Oh, and reminder that you should use the Mullvad browser too if you want to keep anything private.
Both of them are decent VPN choices at the end of the day. If one is 60% cheaper then the choice should be very easy unless you have too much money on your hand. Try 1 month of each and make a choice.
What about AirVPN? I haven't chosen any VPNs yet, mostly because I'm still not sure which to go with, but I never see anyone talk about Air, even though I once heard Proton or Air were the best choices.
Does anyone here regard ivpn as a good vpn as well?
Moved from Proton to Mullvad to Windscribe
Proton kept getting worse and is moving towards a walled garden.
Mullvad seemed great on the private payment front. Their apps are pretty solid. The device limit was too low for me. For 6-10 devices the price doubles.
Windscribe won me over with their build a plan option. Their apps aren't the most visually appealing but get the job done.
How is proton moving to a walled garden?
A la carte pricing has gone out the window in favor of bundles. This enables the same subsidization model of business used by Apple, Google, etc. Even when you pay, they display ads and reminders to get you to upgrade to higher tiers. Drive launched in beta only for paid users. Drive now encourages the use of their proprietary document format. They hand out storage bonuses for each year of membership. That's not a sustainable long-term practice and purposefully creates stickiness. Generally speaking, they don't have easy export tools, so they're not very interoperable. Forwarding emails sent to @proton.me or @protonmail.com addresses to a new inbox is not possible unless you're a paying customer, which makes switching more difficult.
Why don't you use a decentralized VPN like NymVPN? It's impossible for the company or anyone to take logs because your traffic is routed over several nodes. It's like Tor but also adds noise to data and harder to deanonymize
t’s like Tor but a decentralized one.
...so is Tor?
Sorry, you are right. But what I meant was it is very hard to deanonymize and monitor users of NymVPN. Tor network can be however monitored by NSA although chances are small that you will be deanonymized. And unlike Tor, NymVPN can offer 5 relays, which makes the chances that nodes can collaborate to deanonymize you to almost zero. Correct me if I'm wrong.
If you care about things beyond the operations, the Proton boss came out in support of 47's adminstration with regards to regulating big tech IIRC. I'm not aware the Mullvad chief did something similar.
Proton works well. But it's designed to be the basket for all your eggs (VPN, office suite, email, etc.). They want you to use all their services and push for upgrades to the highest tier. I found their customer support you be ... very ... slow.
If you need port forwarding, AirVPN is another option. I think they're cheaper than Mullvad but it's held together by dedication and duct tape. It works okay but read their website first to see if you're okay with how it's set up.
Why do you want a VPN? Is it just for some light piracy? Staying safe on public wifi? Or do you actually NEED to maintain your privacy, with real consequences if you can't?
If you need true privacy, the answer is Mullvad. But there's also more required than just switching on a VPN if you want privacy. If you want a convenient and easy VPN that's part of a bigger privacy-focused suite of tools, then I'd recommend Proton. They make some pretty good products.
Why do you want a VPN? Is it just for some light piracy? Staying safe on public wifi? Or do you actually NEED to maintain your privacy, with real consequences if you can’t?
Nice try, FBI.
Not your problem.
I dont use the well known ones, seems to me that those would be the first to have backdoors since people pick them.
I have a vpn that is never mentioned anywhere. Perfect.
Any reason Private Internet Access (PIA) isn’t in the running? I’ve been using it for years now with no complaints or issues.
Owned by an ad-targetting company, which itself is owned by an Israeli billionaire with ties to the military.
Oof, seriously? I had no idea. Fuck.
Edit - just looked it up, Kape Technologies via parent company owned by Ted Sagi.
It's kind of sad, that people still believe that VPN is a safe option. Sure, it ads a layer, but anyone who wants to know who you are, can find out by your fingerprints, your accounts, anything you put out there. So if you do anything but light surfing, then you are not anonymous with VPN.
people still believe that VPN is a safe option
What does that sentence even mean without context?
Safe against whom? I'm pretty convinced a VPN is safe against :
I'm pretty convinced might be safe against larger scale surveillance :
I'm pretty convinced might NOT be safe against professional individual surveillance :
So... no I don't think anyone can make your VPN pointless. Clearly the random person sitting next to me in a cafe can not. Only few people with the technical expertise or power can do that. None of that matters though if you already volunteer your information elsewhere publicly on private platforms like Instagram or YouTube though.
You certainly are "pretty much"... :-)
So, what do you do, since you don't trust your family? Seems pretty much suspect there... or pretty much paranoid.
You are not safe against any of those you mention. Don't you know what VPN does, and does not?
You are pretty much NOT safe against large scale surveillance.
Thanks for backing me up, with the last thing you wrote. And then please go read up on what VPN actually does, and does not.
Under no circumstance does that mean it is not worth getting one. Particularly dependent on where one lives.
It certainly does - if you don't know how to actually use it in a proper way, because then it becomes totally meaningless to even have VPN... No matter where you live. Please read up on what it does and does not!
https://www.pcmag.com/explainers/7-dangerous-vpn-myths-you-probably-believe
https://www.tomsguide.com/features/are-you-really-invisible-when-you-use-a-vpn
Facebook got my precise location just using my IP, I decided to create a fake account to use FB market place, they warned me about an "unknown login", it's the first time I've seen this, usually websites only know approximate location, but this time just by knowing my IP they hit exactly the small town where I live, instead of near towns which is the normal. I suspect they had my IP from other devices allowing location in the same network (same wifi), then they could safely associate that IP with my exact location even tho I didn't enable any GPS any time.
VPN is worth it just to stop the letters from your ISP.
For some, maybe. I've never gotten a letter from any of my ISPs.
Proton's CEO sucks. I canceled my extremely low-priced, grandfathered subscription and moved elsewhere. I had been a user since basically day one, a subscriber since available, and converted family members and friends to it. Not anymore.
Mullvad has been stellar. Fast, anonymous, easy to use. Zero complaints.
Damn, I couldn't let go of my extremely-low priced grandfathered subscription. I contemplated about it and getting both mullvad and tuta but it ads up more than what I pay proton.
Also, I believe proton ceo apologized or something like that
The apology kind of felt like a "sorry you're offended".
I don't fault anyone for staying but I definitely don't champion them anymore. I did move to Tuta as well and it is far from as seamless of an experience - it does everything I need (including domain aliases), but it was much less intuitive to configure. The system is way slower with search (it doesn't index anything for privacy reasons) and in similar vein the mobile app only syncs something when opened. So you'll get a notification for a new email but when you open it doesn't load for 2-8 seconds.
I get it all somewhat because they're only syncing what's needed at any point in time and decrypting it or whatever, but it does feel janky.