this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2025
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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.

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[–] CashDragon@realbitcoin.cash 2 points 1 day ago

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.

[–] Zoma@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago

I like mullvad i use their dns filtering and their socks5 proxies however it does lack port forwarding so it sucks for torrenting.

[–] compostgoblin@lemmy.blahaj.zone 17 points 2 days ago

Mullvad. Excellent service, never had an issue. Used to use Proton, but their CEO sucks ass

[–] Corridor8031@lemmy.ml 20 points 3 days ago

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.

[–] pathief@lemmy.world 20 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (6 children)

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.

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[–] AlecSadler@lemmy.blahaj.zone 68 points 3 days ago (8 children)

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.

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[–] this@sh.itjust.works 51 points 3 days ago (1 children)

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.

[–] herseycokguzelolacak@lemmy.ml 6 points 3 days ago

You can also pay with cash in an envelope

[–] rozodru@piefed.social 33 points 3 days ago

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.

[–] CountVlad47@feddit.org 52 points 3 days ago

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.

[–] 0x0@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 days ago

I'd rather compare IVPN vs Mullvad.

[–] herseycokguzelolacak@lemmy.ml 12 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Mullvad because it accepts cash payments.

FYI, Proton also accepts cash.

[–] akilou@sh.itjust.works 35 points 3 days ago (1 children)

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.

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[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 28 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (11 children)

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.

[–] morriscox@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago

"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

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.

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[–] Broken@lemmy.ml 7 points 3 days ago

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.

[–] Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 8 points 3 days ago

Mullvad is more private but Proton VPN still supports 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.

[–] unconsciousvoidling@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 days ago (3 children)

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.

[–] 0x0@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 days ago

Proton mail

OP asked about VPNs.

[–] Corridor8031@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 days ago

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

[–] adj@sh.itjust.works 15 points 3 days ago

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).

[–] ComradePedro@lemmy.ml 5 points 3 days ago

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.

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