Basically I started with mullvad then turned to proton but after they introduced AI and a crypto wallet I’m just looking for what peoples opinions are.
I personally use mullvad for all outgoing traffic and then airvpn for any let forwarding I require. Basically airvpn is exclusive to incoming traffic, like my self hosted services or game servers, and then anything I do on the internet routes through mullvad. All setup through opnsense since they both support wireguard.
I always had issues with proton’s port forwarding being reliable in the past. That being said, if you need things like video streaming services, mullvad seems to be having a hard time with these recently where as proton worked well for me back when I used it (unsure if that’s still true).
I watched 4k Olympics live for a long time yesterday on mulvad. Different continents for end to end.
Mullvad because, much like going raw, VPN’s are used for special occasions.
I switched from ProtonVPN Free to Mullvad last month when I needed to torrent something. ProtonVPN Free doesn’t allow P2P traffic, and Mullvad is cheaper than ProtonVPN Pro (or whatever it’s called these days).
The AI doesn’t seem too bad, but I’d prefer it not be there at all. I have no opinions about the crypto, as there is a legitimate use for it, but I have no use for the wallet as I have had a lot of trouble getting ahold of any cryptocurrency.
I’m also happier with the company and the experience. I paid with a card, but I liked that they accept cash and Monero.
On top of that, nobody seems to have anything bad to say about Mullvad. Privacy? They keep no logs and are pretty damn transparent. Limitations? No port forwarding, but I can just use Windscribe if I need that. Clients? They don’t exclude Linux or arm64, and BSD users can just use
wireguard-goor something.There’s also a story when one time the Polisen came to Mullvad HQ with a search warrant, but had to leave after discovering that there were no logs kept, and therefore nothing they could do.
Furthermore, they’ve made my favourite web browser (which is essentially Tor Browser without Tor) by collaborating with the Tor Project. It’s one of only three browsers which give good results in Cover Your Tracks (although I have not yet tested anything with CreepJS; and I tend to change the settings in everything, so your mileage may vary).
TL;DR: I recommend Mullvad over ProtonVPN, but not because of the AI or crypto.
I also recommend Posteo over ProtonMail, Filen over Proton Drive, Bitwarden over Proton Pass, and I stopped using Proton before we got Proton Wallet.
Is there any reason why Mullvad stopped supporting port forwarding?
Mullvad is better imo, unless you need port forwarding. I’m currently using Proton since I pay for Unlimited for that encrypted drive space, and using their VPN saves me money since I just think of the payment as just for Proton Drive. This is a change I made just a few days ago though, for about a year I’ve paid for both Proton Unlimited and Mullvad, and I legitimately prefer Mullvad over Proton, it just made sense for me to switch money wise. Can’t really go wrong between the two imo.
I switched to Proton because I use all the products of their unlimited plan so it makes financial sense to go for that.
However, I feel like Mullvad VPN is vastly superior. Their no bullshit payment options are fanstastic. 5 euros a month, no matter if you buy 1 month or 10 years. I feel like speed and connection stability was noticeably better as well.
I miss Mullvad VPN, really.
Isn’t mullvad better and cheaper?
think I didn’t get it?
protonvpn is a few pennies cheaper when goin’ for 2 years and even much more when you wait for the black friday offers.
so if you can’t wait and don’t use a vpn on a daily basis, mullvad is 100% cheaper, so yes kinda.
I wouldn’t pay for 2 years for a privacy service. Eventually you’ll loose privacy. Better to create a new account at least every 6 months.
IMHO Mullvad
Experience wise i’ve had a better time with mullvad at every corner when it comes to vpns than proton.
Protons still a respectable company i’d say but there focus is gonna become spread more thin while mullvads gonna continue providing a stable and simple experience.
Plus mullvads never gonna confuse you when it comes to pricing unlike proton, no extra time spent finding the difference between a monthly and annual subscription.
Both options are very good. Neither the wallet nor the writing assistant impact your vpn experience, so not sure what you’re looking for in alternatives.
Anyway, sticking with proton or using mullvad are two equally good but different options. Want a VPN without port forwarding and only a VPN? Mullvad. Want port forwarding, or are interested in using their other privacy minded products? Proton.
What was the reason for you to switch from Mullvad in the first place?
I’m using a combination of Astrill (paid) and Proton (free, as a backup) since they are the only ones that reliably work in China, but once I’m out of here and my subscriptions expire, I’ll be on Mullvad again.
To be fair the only reason I switched is because I couldn’t find out how to pay for a year instead of monthly, but I think I’ve figured it out now
You can pay in bulk. It just scales linearly/it’s a flat rate, so no kind of discount for buying a year vs buying a month.
Damn, Astrill is expensive though. Friend in China is currently happy with Mullvad + Shadowsocks. A few hiccups here and there, but it works pretty well and is fast enough for streaming, too.
They also have guides to a few more involved methods in case Shadowsocks is blocked.
Yep, the one issue with shadowsocks is that you can only install it on end devices, not on a router. That’s the big benefit of Astrill. But anyway, my days in China are numbered, so I’m soon not going to need that anymore.
Use Mullvad, unless you absolutely require port forwarding.
And if you need port forwarding use airvpn. Proton seems more and more sketch every day
Proton has port forwarding? Source?
God damn that’s complicated compared to PIA
I dont know why that has you doing so much, I use port forwarding with proton vpn and all I did was press a button in the proton vpn app and it was on.
That’s the manual setup for use cases like on a server or whatever (a common place where you would need port forwarding)
What OS?
Windows 11
Ah that’ll do it. Seems more effort has been put into the windows app
Pia is owned by very sketchy Kape Technologies, just FYI.
Yeah but their stack is open source, with no evidence of wrongdoing, and proven no log track record. Their servers have no persistent storage. The threat model isn’t the fuckin NSA lol
While PIA Might not have done any wrong doing, Kape Technologies definitely has. Imo, it’s not worth funding.
I have a proton subscription but it’s not worth the effort to port forward until their app can do it
This is the best answer.
Or you already use Proton Mail / Drive etc and want to save a bit of money with Proton Unlimited at 9.99 EUR/USD / mo. That’s why I switched from Mullvad. I do agree that overall though Mullvad is the best in terms of trustworthiness (so far as we know anyway)
Thank you for your opinion
they’re both good but I use mullvad only because I use proton for email and I don’t want one company to have both my emails and web traffic
@Ste41th mullvad, definitely
Mullvad
Mullvad is currently highly trusted by the community. If you lost your trust in proton I recommend switching back to it.
