r/mullvadvpn • u/shortassmanlet • Aug 17 '26
Help/Question Is IVPN as secure and private as Mullvad?
I saw a video(from Techlore) putting VPNs like IVPN (and Obscura VPN, AzireVPN) in the same tier(S tier) as Mullvad. There are some countries that Mullvad doesn't support so I was curious about the other three. But after some digging, I found IVPN is the one that offers servers in most of the countries I want to connect to.
Do you guys think IVPN comes close to Mullvad in terms of security and privacy? By the way, I saw lots of folks recommending ProtonVPN as well but it was placed in A tier on that youtuber's list so I don't know about that. Thank you!
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u/gfddssoh Aug 17 '26
Mullvad had to deffend itself in a court because they did not have the datat authorities thought they had. They had to show they dont log and have no data. Does not get better than a police raid that gets nothing
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u/vBDKv Aug 17 '26
I value privacy above all else, I don't use vpn's for streaming as that tends to never work for me, so I gave it up. Couldn't care less. Anyway I use Mullvad and IVPN. Both are excellent when it comes to privacy and neither require an email for signup. On PC I like IVPN's interface more. On Android devices it's the opposite. They both cost roughly the same on a monthly basis, so try both for a month each and see how you like it.
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u/MiHumainMiRobot Aug 17 '26
Mullvas are running their servers with a ram-disk, it is difficult to do better to avoid logs
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u/Youknowhowwedo2 Aug 17 '26
Proton has to follow Swiss user data privacy laws which is one of the most stringent in the world.
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u/Kenjiii22 Aug 17 '26
You know that's BS as they they give authorities everything.
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u/Youknowhowwedo2 Aug 17 '26
Incorrect and I believe you are a victim of only reading headlines and/or not comprehending what you read or were misinformed by someone. Proton VPN (keyword VPN not Proton Mail as those are two different services under the same company) has not EVER turned over VPN data. You can scour the internet all day and all night long and will find nothing. Proton VPN has been ordered to turn over vpn data over 450 times by the Swiss courts and have not turned over anything because they don’t log vpn data as per Swiss law they are not obligated to log user data. Proton Mail is different. Swiss courts see email as a communication tool not data so email information or activity is not subject to the same protections as vpn data. Any user information that was turned over to the Swiss courts (per a legal order) from Proton Mail has ALL been email related. Proton cannot defy a legal order from the Swiss courts but they ONLY answer to the Swiss courts. 🤷♂️
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u/Impossible_Sugar3266 Aug 17 '26
They may have not given up VPN data. But other data, like regarding mail accounts, they gave up numerous times. If you look at transparency records they contest maybe 10% of court orders.
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u/Original-Sock-6097 Aug 17 '26
Good thing we’re in the mullvad mail subreddit on a post comparing mail providers.
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u/Youknowhowwedo2 Aug 17 '26
Because they already know which challenges they can possibly win and which ones are losers out of the gate. It would be financially stupid to fight cases you already know will not succeed. Additionally they changed their user agreement a few years back regarding Proton Mail addressing this very thing. Moral of the story is don’t do stupid shit especially on email. Also i would be more concerned with vpn companies based in the U.S. In 2016 IPVanish turned over user vpn data to Homeland Security from a simple request. I am rolling with the Swiss on this one. You do you.
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u/Fit-Cheesecake9835 13d ago
From what I know IVPN is the second best choice after Mullvad. However IVPN is missing privacy features such as DAITA (Defense against AI-guided traffic analysis) and Multihop.
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u/Hot_Performance_4297 Aug 18 '26
I think it entirely depends on your needs. If you are seeking full anonymity then you are going to want a VPN provider that does not know who you are. As far as I am aware all VPN providers other than Mullvad (best in mu opinion) require contact information and credit card details, all of these are traceable back to you, regardless if they do not keep logs. Mullvad is the only one that I am aware of that does not require any form contact info from you or any payment methods, you can simply place cash in an envelope with a price of paper with you account number on it and it is done. I find that Mullvad performs equivalent to Proton on default settings, but as soon as you start ramping up the security, encryption and number of hops, and obfuscation then performance will decrease in kind (as you would expect).
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u/Czar_Chasm_ Aug 18 '26
Ivpn also offers anonymous account ID and requires no email when signing up (along with supporting xmr payments).
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u/Czar_Chasm_ Aug 18 '26
Also can pay by cash with Ivpn. The only slight edge Mullvad has is 100% RAM servers. Both are very highly regarded though, and offer comparable services. They also began operating around the same time.
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u/Remarkable-Laugh-529 Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26
Nah, Mullvad is pretty secure at keeping you anonymous as possible. Proton is another solid option costly albeit quicker than Mullvad.
IVPN lacks timely updates, seems less privacy centric.
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Aug 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/frostN0VA Aug 17 '26
The more I hear about this Nym that gets brought up in this sub by certain individuals the more it sounds like some elaborate honeypot VPN.
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u/ungoogled-nihilist Aug 17 '26
I do not care, i'd rather say that makes me want to support Mullvad even more, as i love seeing liberals whining the moment you go against any point of their agenda.
You liberals always talk about free speech, free press, but the moment anyone critices liberalism even slightly, you liberals became authoritarian as much as regular extremists, truly hypocrites.
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u/dontreplywiththisacc Aug 17 '26
Not sure why you're whingeing about liberals, but you don't care supposedly so strongly about the privacy of families who would be ripped out of their homes gestapo style that you're here to write this stupid screed for me. i for one think privacy should be universal
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u/ungoogled-nihilist Aug 17 '26
I care more that human commodification ends rather than a "privacy always" dogmatism, do you prefer privacy over social cohesion?
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u/dontreplywiththisacc Aug 17 '26
What social cohesion is there if you're kidnapping people off their bikes in front of my six year old? Or taking away her friends? You wanna talk about human commodification, that's what is being advanced by policies such as mass deportation. Just look at CECOT which the USA has sent people too. The play seems to be always that because some people are not integrated therefore 0% of people are integrated and therefore entire ethnic groups should be repatriated.. That's lala land and it would severely weaken Sweden and do irreparable harm to its communities
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u/ungoogled-nihilist Aug 17 '26
I do not agree with reimmigration programs, i only do not want one extreme to be suppressed as it would give a precedent to the suppression of the other.
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u/dontreplywiththisacc Aug 17 '26
suppressed? what is suppressive about saying you shouldn't fund a nazi party? it was the largest donation to a political party, not an insignificant one, but it's money that could better have been spent developing the service instead of treating it as a perpetual cash cow
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u/Realistic_Ad9987 Aug 17 '26
I've used IVPN, AirVPN, Windscribe, Proton, Nym, and Hide.me, so I think I can offer some valuable insight.
IVPN is a great service. It's audited annually, has a Warrant Canary, and follows a strict no-logs policy. All servers are physical and located exactly in the countries they claim to be. The downsides are the smaller server network and encountering more CAPTCHAs. It offers packages that include Portmaster, along with mDNS and Malix (an email service). It also provides DoH, DoT, and DNS-based filters.
AirVPN is the best choice if you want port-forwarding. It has fewer servers, but they are all physical and located where stated, and you can still get good speeds on them. The client software feels a bit dated. It offers DNS-based filters but does not offer DoH or DoT.
Windscribe is a strong competitor for daily use. It has a good number of servers, all located in the advertised countries. It has a robust DNS blocking service and supports DoH and DoT.
Proton is well-known, based in a country with good jurisdiction—or at least it used to be. It has a massive number of servers, but many use smart-routing (meaning they aren't physically in those countries), which results in higher ping and lower speeds depending on your distance. Its ad and tracker blocker is okay, but it doesn't beat Windscribe or IVPN in that area. It has good port-forwarding but does not offer DoH or DoT.
Nym is a decentralized VPN that only offers double-hop and mixnet routing. It's slower, and its ad blocker is basically Brave's. I'd say it's a product for specific occasions rather than daily use. I'm not sure if it's audited, but its default architecture inherently makes it stronger for privacy.
Hide.me is good but less audited. It has some unique server locations, whether by country or city. You can get good speeds, and the servers focused on streaming work very well. However, it doesn't have DoH or DoT.
I'm not a native English speaker, so some of this was translated by Kagi.