IVPN vs Mullvad

Comparing: two VPNs
Decided by: Independent no-logs audits
Last reviewed: 2026-08-26

IVPNTakes bitcoin

Eight straight years of Cure53 security audits, cash or Monero accepted, and a company that publicly refuses to commission another no-logs audit.

MullvadTakes bitcoin

No email, no username, no password: a random account number, cash or Monero in an envelope, and a police raid that came away with nothing.

Verdict: Mullvad

Mullvad carries more independent audits of its no-logs claim: 4 against 3 for IVPN. We publish no rating for VPNs, so the audit count is the one criterion that decides.

Criterion: Independent no-logs audits
IVPN: 3
Mullvad: 4

IVPN and Mullvad, fact by fact

Every row is from the two reviews as of their review dates, with sources on each. A check marks the side a decidable criterion favours; rows without one are information, not a score.

IVPN and Mullvad compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
Fact	IVPN	Mullvad
Independent audits	3, latest 2026	4, latest 2024 (favoured on this row)
Real-world tests	0	1
Incidents on record	0	0
Market exits	0	0
Owner	IVPN Limited	Mullvad VPN AB
Jurisdiction	Gibraltar	Sweden
Eyes alliance	Outside	Fourteen Eyes
Price	From $60/yr on Standard	Flat EUR 5/mo, any term
Money-back	30 days	14 days
Crypto accepted	bitcoin, monero	bitcoin, bitcoin cash, monero
Anonymous signup	Yes	Yes
Free tier	None	None
Servers	Vendor runs a deliberately small network, in the low tens of countries, rather than competing on server counts	Vendor publishes a live server list, running to roughly 550 servers, and marks which are owned rather than rented
Last reviewed	2026-08-26	2026-08-26

No-logs evidence, side by side

Dated audits and real-world tests from each review. An empty column is a finding: the claim has not been independently checked.

IVPN

2026Audit by Cure53: eighth annual security audit, covering the cryptography and privacy model of the Unlinked Access system
2023Audit by Cure53: penetration test and configuration review of the new VPN gateway infrastructure, report published in full
2019Audit by Cure53: the no-logs audit of the VPN gateway and authentication servers, which IVPN says was its first and only audit of that format

Mullvad

2024Audit by Cure53: fourth infrastructure audit, covering one OpenVPN and one WireGuard server plus the Ansible deployment code
2023At least six officers from the Swedish police National Operations Department searched Mullvad's Gothenburg office with a warrant seeking customer data: Mullvad showed the data did not exist and the officers left without seizing equipment or obtaining any customer information
2021Audit by Cure53: infrastructure audit that found no personally identifiable information or privacy leaks
2020Audit by Cure53: penetration test and source code audit of the apps across Windows, Android and iOS
2018Audit by Cure53: penetration test and source code audit of the VPN client app

Frequently asked questions

Is IVPN or Mullvad better for privacy?

Mullvad carries more independent audits of its no-logs claim: 4 against 3 for IVPN. We publish no rating for VPNs, so the audit count is the one criterion that decides. Audits, court and seizure records and incidents are dated on each review with their sources.

Can I pay IVPN or Mullvad with bitcoin?

IVPN takes bitcoin and monero (processor: In-house). Mullvad takes bitcoin, bitcoin cash and monero (processor: In-house, on self-hosted full nodes). Each review quotes the vendor's own refund sentence for crypto purchases verbatim.

Which is cheaper, IVPN or Mullvad?

IVPN: From $60/yr on Standard. Mullvad: Flat EUR 5/mo, any term. Money-back: IVPN 30 days, Mullvad 14 days. Prices are from each vendor's own page as of the review date.

Where are IVPN and Mullvad based?

IVPN: Gibraltar (outside the five, nine and fourteen eyes alliances). Mullvad: Sweden (fourteen eyes member). A jurisdiction matters less than a court record showing what the provider could hand over; the reviews carry those where they exist.

The full reviews: IVPN and Mullvad, each with its sources, and every VPN we review.

More comparisons

Every other head-to-head IVPN or Mullvad appears in.