Private Internet Access VS Mullvad Comparison

UPDATED Apr. 2024
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Mullvad and Private Internet Access both fall into the category of top-tier VPN providers, which is why it is not a least bit surprising that so many people have a hard time deciding which of these two VPNs to sign up for. One way to decide is to look at specific areas of service and see which of them does better.

Mullvad
Best For Beginners
VS
Private Internet Access
Best For VPN Experts

Highlights

Mullvad
Mullvad is a privacy-centric VPN provider from Sweden. The service is built around the idea of free internet for everybody offering solid encryption and providing a secure online environment for its users without any connection logs.
  • 5 simultaneous connections
  • P2P allowed on all servers
  • Cash and Bitcoin accepted
Private Internet Access
If you are looking for a reliable VPN with plenty of servers all across the globe and rock-solid connections at decent to excellent speeds, you should definitely check out Private Internet Access, a US-based VPN service provider.
  • Zero user logs kept
  • Offers SOCKS5 proxy
  • Unlimited bandwidth
  • P2P sharing allowed

Compare Prices

Company
1 Month
3 Months
6 Months
1 Year
2 Years
Mullvad
1 Month
$6.11
3 Months
$18.34
6 Months
$36.69
1 Year
$73.39
2 Years
/
Private Internet Access
1 Month
$6.95
3 Months
/
6 Months
$5.99
1 Year
$3.33
2 Years
$2.91
* The prices shown represent the cost of one month within different subscriptions. To see all available plans and pricing options, check individual reviews.

Compare Features

Mullvad
Based In
Sweden
Number Of Servers
0
Number Of Countries
0
Protocols
OpenVPN, Wireguard
Encryption
AES-256, RSA-4096 certificates, SHA-512 server authentication
Simultaneous Connections
5
Logs Policy
no logs
Dedicated IP
Killswitch
DNS Leak Protection
Allows Torrenting
Torrenting Servers
SmartDNS
Private Internet Access
Based In
US
Number Of Servers
3079+
Number Of Countries
28
Protocols
PPTP, OpenVPN, and L2TP/IPSec
Encryption
256-bit AES
Simultaneous Connections
5
Logs Policy
no traffic logs
Dedicated IP
Killswitch
DNS Leak Protection
Allows Torrenting
Torrenting Servers
SmartDNS

Supported Devices

Mullvad
Windows
OS X
Linux
Android
iOS
Private Internet Access
Windows
OS X
Linux
Android
iOS

Compare Ratings

Mullvad
FINAL RATING
8.2/10
Anonymity
Reliability
Performance
Features
Support
Value For Money
Private Internet Access
FINAL RATING
9.3/10
Anonymity
Reliability
Performance
Features
Support
Value For Money

Compare User Reviews

Mullvad
  • Submitted By donkey on 12/06/2019
    I've been using Mullvad for over 2 years and am very happy with their service. I have a lot of computers and run numerous operating systems (Windows, Mac, Linux, Servers, etc) and the setup is simple every time. They don't have as many servers as some of the bigger VPN services, but I get over 100Mb/sec when I'm connected through the app and they have servers that are very local to me on the east coast of the US. I especially love their wireguard support, which I use exclusively on my linux machines and I get my full bandwidth. It's blazing fast (for me) and the setup is super easy thanks to their configuration wizard, including the multihop feature. Even better is the ability to pay anonymously, you can even mail them cash and you never need to provide a name or even an email address!
  • Submitted By Alex Fredrick on 09/03/2019
    If you are considering a VPN, stop considering anything other than Mullvad. I have used every VPN on the market and there is just no comparison to the features offered by Mullvad, The simplicity of their user interface, my grandma can use. Forget about all these numbers, (pings, speeds etc.) All the VPN's have same similar numbers so this is just wasting your time. However, aside from that, they are consistently updating and this company want to go #1, it obvious just one example their customer service. 5 Stars is just not enough
  • Submitted By Mullvad User on 07/07/2019
    I am a Windows 8.1 PC user. This VPN works great initially, however, after several uses over a short spell of days or so, this VPN won't allow you to access the internet directly at all, without it being active on your Windows PC -- no matter what you do to adjust the settings, even if you Quit the app(with the correct settings ticked to enable you to connect to the internet WITHOUT this VPN active; You will NOT be able to access the internet; Many websites limit their functionality or completely disallow connections through a VPN. I have used this VPN with my Windows 7 & 8.1 (PCs) and experienced this issue consistently with both over the past year that I have used Mullvad VPN for Windows. And even if you need to update to their most recent version, the issue will re-emerge shortly after doing so. If you wanted this problem addressed, you would have to connect with a 3rd party via email that will need to document everything in order to service this issue!! -- reasonable anonymity is then out-the-window!! So I have to assume that Mullvad is earning money from the 3rd party customer service(email) that they invite you to reference for help exclusively. Now of course, I don't experience this issue using Mullvad's servers via OpenVPN -- but OpenVPN can't offer the full security features like the Kill Switch, etc. I do however, continue to use Mullvad VPN on my Windows PC, because it's the most cost effective, reliable and secure VPN(I feel) that I can use!
  • Submitted By Gretter on 05/05/2019
    Mullvad does not work out of the box in China. Just home from China, here's a bit of hands on experience. Prior to travel, I tested it from europe. No problems. Tweaking settings as described didn't work for me. I'm a techie, but not on vpn, so some of it was in the blind. Combined with Wireguard, I did get a vpn connection. But I would not have been able to download the Wireguard app without a second working vpn connection. Now, I realize that there's probably sneaky way's to make this work, but if you're the average user... I don't recommend this vpn solutions for your China adventure as of early 2019.
Private Internet Access
  • Submitted By JJ Sanders on 11/15/2019
    Private Internet Access does NOT protect your identity - it leaks your IP address. I really like the ease of use and the interface, but now have received several Copyright Infringement letters from my ISP while using PIA, even after their customer service suggested several fixes and adjustments. At first it was leaking my Ipv6 data, and we fixed that. I found that even though their suggested test site said it was OK, other sites shows the data was still leaking. Even after stopping that - PIA continues to leak my IP address causing me more problems. I used a simple Anonymizer previously for years with no problems. DON'T USE PIA IF YOU NEED TO PROTECT YOUR ISP ADDRESS.
  • Submitted By Anonymous of course on 10/19/2018
    I love this VPN. I highly doubt I'll use any other VPN ever. The only thing I dislike about this provider is that Amazon streaming and Netflix streaming are blocked but that's fine. I use other streaming services. I cancelled my Netflix subscription and I'd cancel my prime membership to Amazon too if not for the free 2 day shipping. I'll sign up again when they let me be anonymous on the internet like everyone should be. Anyways this VPN has never had downtime for me and the Killswitch means I can p2p with no worries. Torrent freak has 2 articles about PIA being taken to court and PIA informing they have a no log policy and being unable to help with any logs. I'll trust these guys with my privacy for sure. Conclusion: if you can survive without streaming Netflix this VPN provides the best privacy and security and has had it's no log policy tested. 5 stars without a doubt.
  • Submitted By Jose Cuervo on 10/02/2018
    I have been using PIA for several years now and am satisfied with the service. I originally used Viscosity as my client but the one from PIA has improved enough to make it the best option. Though I have not yet tried the Linux client, the ones on Windows, MacOS, iOS and Android work well. Since I stared using PIA, they have added a bunch more servers and the performance has never been an issue for me. The combination of features, compatability and server locations represents the best value for me....YMMV. PIA was my third and so far best VPN experience.
  • Submitted By Maria Martonioni on 06/22/2017
    I liked this service for a while but I feel that lately they have started to slack a bit, especially when it comes to connection reliability. No matter what kind of server I connect to (I usually connect to US and UK ones, sometimes some European ones) the connection keeps dropping and I keep losing my protected connection which is definitely not cool.

Winner

Read our unbiased Private Internet Access review to learn more about this premium VPN service and see the results of our exhaustive performance tests.

* All the prices on this website are subject to change without notice. While we put a great deal of effort into making sure that all the prices are accurate, one or more products may have outdated prices. Please visit the specific product’s official website for exact prices.