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Mullvad free use covers its tools, not the VPN. Mullvad has no free plan and no free trial. Its terms set the price at €5 a month, with a 14-day refund that excludes cash and cryptocurrency payments. PCRisk notes Mullvad once offered a limited trial and now relies on the refund window. What does cost nothing is Mullvad Browser and its browser extension; its public encrypted DNS closes on 2 November 2026, and Mullvad now points users to Quad9.
This guide covers what is free, the cheapest way to test the VPN, the refund rules, and free alternatives if you need a VPN at no cost.
Is Mullvad Free? The Short Answer
No. Every Mullvad account pays the same flat €5 a month, its terms say, and there are no free tiers, discounts or trial periods. Security.org notes the price has not changed since Mullvad launched in 2009, so there is no introductory offer to wait for either.
The lack of a free plan is part of the model: Mullvad funds itself only from subscriptions, so it has no reason to collect data. Our Mullvad cost guide explains what €5 buys.
What Mullvad Gives Away
Mullvad Browser is a free download for Windows, macOS and Linux. Its download page describes it as built against fingerprinting and without telemetry. Mullvad’s browser extension is free for anyone and checks for IP, WebRTC and DNS leaks.
Without the VPN running, the extension has recommended Mullvad’s encrypted DNS, but that public service closes on 2 November 2026, so use Quad9, which Mullvad now sponsors, instead. None of these tools hides your IP address; only the paid VPN does that. Our Mullvad Firefox guide covers the extension.
The Cheapest Way to Test It
Buy a single month for €5 on Mullvad’s site. Nothing renews unless you set it up, so the risk is one month’s price. Pay by card or PayPal if you think you might want a refund; the terms exclude cash and cryptocurrency from refunds.
Use the month to test speeds, your devices and the apps’ features, such as DAITA and multihop. Five devices fit one account, so a household can test several phones and laptops at once before deciding.
The Refund Rules
Mullvad’s terms allow a refund within 14 days of payment, and exclude cash and cryptocurrency. The App Store or a reseller handles refunds for its own purchases, not Mullvad.
Some reviews still describe a 30-day window; the terms are the source to trust. Our own tables carried the older figure until we checked them in October 2026. Our VPN refund guide explains how refunds differ across providers.
Free Alternatives if You Pay Nothing
Proton VPN Free has no data cap, five Securitum audits in our table and one device, and Windscribe Free gives 10 GB a month without requiring an email. Paid users, not adverts, fund both.
Our Proton VPN free guide and Windscribe Free guide cover their limits.
Paying Without Leaving a Trail
Mullvad accepts cash in nine currencies by post, plus Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Monero, its terms list. Those methods keep your name away from the account, though the terms exclude them from refunds.
If you pay in cash, buy a few months at once, since Security.org found cash took 7 to 14 business days to credit. Card and PayPal payments credit at once and keep the 14-day refund.
How Mullvad’s Cost Compares
A year of Mullvad comes to about $65 at €5 a month, our tables record. There is no renewal jump. PureVPN renews at $47.95 and CyberGhost at $56.94, while Surfshark at about $79 and Proton Plus at about $83.88 cost more on renewal.
For a single month, Mullvad’s €5 undercuts most monthly plans. Our cheapest monthly VPN guide compares short-term prices.
Why Pay for Mullvad
Mullvad has more than 10 audits in our table, issues account numbers instead of asking for an email, and accepts cash. Its apps are open source too. Police who visited its office with a warrant left with nothing, because there were no user records.
Those features are what €5 buys; a free plan would need another way to pay for servers. Unknown free apps often find that way in adverts or data, as our free VPN risks guide explains.
Who Mullvad Suits Without a Free Plan
It suits people who want privacy without an email trail and are happy to pay a small flat amount, including for just one month at a time. Travellers can buy a single month for a trip, and nothing renews when they get home.
It suits people who need a VPN at no cost less well; they are better served by Proton Free, which has no data cap and an audited no-logs policy. Our free VPN guide covers the options.
How We Research
This page draws on Mullvad’s terms of service, its browser extension guide and download pages, Security.org’s and PCRisk’s Mullvad reviews and our Mullvad and free-plan tables. We cross-checked these sources against each other, and where they conflict or something can’t be verified, we say so in the text rather than guessing. We checked time-sensitive figures, including prices in US dollars, on 8 October 2026. The main source we relied on is Mullvad’s terms of service. Our full approach lives on the About Us page.
Mullvad Free FAQ
No; it costs a flat €5 a month with no free plan or trial.
Not today; it relies on a 14-day refund for card-style payments.
Mullvad Browser and its browser extension; its public encrypted DNS closes on 2 November 2026.
No; the terms exclude cash and cryptocurrency.
Proton VPN Free, with no data cap.
The Verdict
Mullvad free use covers its browser, extension and DNS, not the VPN. Test the VPN with one €5 month paid by card, or use Proton Free if you need something at no cost.