Kitsmith / Compare / Mullvad VPN vs NordVPN
MacMullvad VPN vs NordVPN
Mullvad VPN vs NordVPN: verdict, pricing, and specs compared, so you can pick the right one for your Mac.
At a glance
Mullvad VPN
€5/month flat rate, billed in EUR — no free tier, and no discount for paying further in advanceA flat €5/month, no-frills VPN from a Swedish privacy company — anonymous accounts, no logging, and an open-source app, with no free tier and no multi-year discount to chase.
NordVPN
$14.99/mo billed monthly; from $3.49/mo on a 2-year plan (renews at $139.08/yr, ≈$11.59/mo)One of the largest VPN services by server count and brand recognition, with a native Mac App Store app and no-log servers in 118 countries.
Spec comparison
Mullvad VPN
- Price
- €5/month flat rate, billed in EUR — no free tier, and no discount for paying further in advance
- Pricing model
- Paid
- License
- Open source
- Placement
- Screen
- Channels
- Direct
- Category
- Utilities
NordVPN
- Price
- $14.99/mo billed monthly; from $3.49/mo on a 2-year plan (renews at $139.08/yr, ≈$11.59/mo)
- Pricing model
- Paid
- License
- Proprietary
- Placement
- Menu bar
- Channels
- Mac App Store · Direct
- Category
- Utilities
The verdict
NordVPN wins on scale — servers in 118 countries, a native Mac App Store app, and Threat Protection (malware, tracker, and ad blocking) bundled in — but its pricing escalates hard: the advertised low rate is a 2-year intro price (from $3.49/mo, renewing at $139.08/yr), and paying month-to-month costs roughly 4x that at $14.99/mo. Mullvad refuses that structure entirely — one flat €5/month whether you pay for one month or twelve, no renewal cliff, and no email required to sign up, since accounts are just a randomly generated number. Both publish independently audited no-logs policies, but only Mullvad’s app is open source on GitHub for you to inspect yourself. Pick NordVPN if you want the bigger server network and a bundled security suite; pick Mullvad if flat, predictable pricing and maximum account anonymity matter more to you than server count.
Which one should you pick?
Pick Mullvad VPN if…
- Pick Mullvad if you want one flat price — €5/month — with no renewal cliff and no multi-year plan to commit to just to get a fair rate
- Pick Mullvad if maximum account anonymity matters to you — no email or personal info required, just a randomly generated account number
- Pick Mullvad if you want an open-source app you, or someone you trust, can actually inspect on GitHub
- Pick Mullvad if paying in euros to a Swedish privacy-focused company, rather than a US-marketed VPN brand, is a feature to you, not a friction
Pick NordVPN if…
- Pick NordVPN if you want the larger server network — 118 countries — and a native Mac App Store app
- Pick NordVPN if built-in Threat Protection, bundled into the base plan, is worth having alongside the VPN itself
- Pick NordVPN if you’d rather pay a low intro rate on a 2-year plan (from $3.49/mo) and don’t mind it renewing higher (≈$11.59/mo)
- Pick NordVPN if a 30-day money-back guarantee, versus Mullvad’s 14-day one, gives you more room to decide
Mullvad VPN vs NordVPN — questions people ask
Is Mullvad cheaper than NordVPN?
It depends on the term. Mullvad is a flat €5/month, always. NordVPN’s 2-year intro rate (from $3.49/mo) undercuts that, but NordVPN’s monthly plan ($14.99/mo) and its post-intro renewal rate (≈$11.59/mo) both cost more than Mullvad’s flat price.
Which one requires less personal information to sign up?
Mullvad — no email or personal details are required; accounts are identified by a randomly generated number. NordVPN’s signup process isn’t detailed in this listing, but it isn’t marketed around anonymous account creation the way Mullvad is.
Are both independently audited?
Yes — both NordVPN and Mullvad publish independently audited no-logs policies, though only Mullvad’s app source code is public on GitHub for outside inspection.