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Mullvad vs FastestVPN sets a service designed around anonymity against a budget service sold mostly for life. Mullvad, from Sweden, needs no email to sign up, accepts cash, runs servers from memory and has more than 10 independent audits in our table, all for a flat €5 a month on five devices. FastestVPN sells lifetime access for a one-off payment, with one 2023 audit.
This guide compares privacy, cost over time, torrenting, devices, streaming and fit.
Mullvad vs FastestVPN on Privacy
Mullvad gives you a random account number instead of an email, takes cash by post or cryptocurrency, and runs memory-only servers. Swedish police left its office with nothing in 2023, reports say. FastestVPN’s single Altius IT audit dates from 2023.
On privacy, Mullvad is in a different league from FastestVPN. Our Mullvad safety guide covers its record.
Cost Over Time
Mullvad’s €5 a month comes to €60 a year and €240 over four years, with no discounts, promotions or long plans. A FastestVPN lifetime plan bought on promotion costs under $50 once.
FastestVPN wins on price by a wide margin, provided the company keeps honouring lifetime plans.
Torrenting, Ports and Devices
Mullvad stopped offering port forwarding in mid-2023, citing abuse of the feature, so incoming connections for torrent clients are not available. FastestVPN includes port forwarding.
Torrent users who need open ports for seeding will prefer FastestVPN. Our torrenting guide lists audited providers that still offer them.
Mullvad allows five devices per account; FastestVPN allows 10. Families with many devices fit better on FastestVPN, or on Mullvad with a router at home.
A router counts as one device on either.
Protocols, Features, Speed and DAITA
Mullvad runs WireGuard only, with DAITA to disguise traffic patterns and multihop through two servers. FastestVPN offers WireGuard, IKEv2 and OpenVPN, with an ad blocker in its browser extension.
Mullvad focuses on resisting surveillance; FastestVPN focuses on cheap, broad everyday use.
Streaming and Refunds
Mullvad does not try to unblock streaming, and testers found services such as BBC iPlayer and US Netflix often blocked. Several reviews found FastestVPN worked with streaming, our tables record.
For streaming, FastestVPN is the better bet of the two by some distance.
Mullvad refunds within 14 days, except cash and cryptocurrency payments, our tables record. Check FastestVPN’s refund terms for lifetime deals at checkout.
Mullvad’s monthly billing also means you can simply stop paying whenever you like.
Paying Anonymously, and Mullvad’s DNS Change
Mullvad accepts cash sent by post and cryptocurrency, so you can pay without linking a name to the account number. FastestVPN’s sign-up uses an email address.
If anonymity matters, Mullvad is the only real option of these two.
Mullvad is closing its public encrypted DNS service on 2 November 2026, it announced, recommending Quad9 instead. The DNS and blocking inside its VPN app keep working.
If you used Mullvad’s public DNS without the VPN, switch to another resolver before that date.
Platforms, and Who Each Is For
Mullvad has apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and Android TV, and its apps are open source. FastestVPN offers a Mac App Store app, browser extensions, an Android app for TV boxes and command-line Linux guides.
Mullvad’s open-source apps let outside experts check how they handle your data.
Journalists, activists and privacy-minded users fit Mullvad’s design, accepting no port forwarding and weak streaming. Budget users who torrent or stream fit FastestVPN, accepting a thinner audit record.
Decide which compromise you can comfortably live with for the next few years.
Mullvad kept about 95% of connection speed on UK servers in Comparitech’s 2026 tests. Its DAITA feature, which adds padding traffic to hide patterns, costs speed, so leave it off when speed matters. For a head-to-head, see our Mullvad vs hide.me comparison.
We found no recent independent speed figures for FastestVPN; test it on your own line at busy times.
The Risk of Lifetime Plans, and Routers
A lifetime plan depends on the provider staying in business, keeping the same owner and honouring old deals. Mullvad’s monthly billing avoids that risk: if anything changes, you stop paying.
Weigh the savings against how long you realistically expect to use the VPN.
Mullvad works on routers through WireGuard, which suits households that need more than five devices. Check FastestVPN’s guides for your router model before buying.
A router counts as one device on Mullvad, which eases its five-device limit for families.
Accounts Without an Email
Mullvad’s sign-up gives you a random 16-digit number, which is both your username and your password. Anyone holding it can use your time, so store it somewhere safe; you can see and remove the five devices on the account at any time.
FastestVPN uses a conventional email-and-password account, which is easier to recover but links the service to your email address.
How We Research
This page draws on Mullvad’s port forwarding announcement coverage, reports on its 2023 police visit, Comparitech’s and Top10VPN’s streaming tests, FastestVPN’s support pages and our audit and price 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 CyberInsider on Mullvad’s 2023 visit. Our full approach lives on the About Us page.
Mullvad vs FastestVPN FAQ
Mullvad for privacy; FastestVPN for price, ports and streaming.
Not since 2023; FastestVPN does.
FastestVPN, with a lifetime plan under $50.
Mullvad, with more than 10.
No; it uses a random account number.
The Verdict
Mullvad vs FastestVPN: Mullvad for anonymous, audited privacy; FastestVPN for the cheapest VPN with port forwarding and streaming.