60 PCWorld OCTOBER 2020REVIEWS MULLVAD VS. NORDVPN
manage your account.
Mullvad, however, doesn’t even want that
much information. When you sign up it
assigns a random account number that is your
only way to access your account. No
passwords that might accidentally reveal
identifying information, no email address,
nothing.
Winner: MullvadTRUST
A key component to trusting a company with
your data and privacy is identifying who runs
the company and where they are in the world.
That’s easy with Mullvad, but until recently it
was harder with NordVPN.
The company is finally starting to be
transparent about who’s in charge over there,
with company
co-founder
Tom Okman
going public.
NordVPN
also tries to
improve trust
with third-
party audits of
its no-logs
policy. The
reports
validate most
of the
company’s
claims;however, the audits were contracted in such a
way that NordVPN is prevented from
publishing them in full for the public—though
NordVPN customers can read them online
from their account dashboard.
Winner: MullvadPRICE
When it comes to price, NordVPN has the
cheaper plan, if you pay for three years
upfront. The company’s three-year plan costs
a little less than $108, or just under $36 per
year.
If you choose to pay year-by-year instead,
it comes out to about $84 per year; a per-
month plan is $12 per month.
Mullvad’s pricing scheme is much simpler.
The company charges you €5 per month,
which at this writing is about $5.70.
So where does that leave us? Overall,
NordVPN has the cheapest plans, but if you
need a month-to-month VPN at a reasonable
price it’s hard to beat Mullvad, as most VPNs
charge $10 to $12 for a single month.
Winner: TieNETFLIX
A popular use for a VPN when you’re overseas
or just securing your connection away from
home is watching Netflix. Mullvad doesn’t
make any promises about being able to view
Netflix, but NordVPN does. The last time we
checked, NordVPN was making good on its
Mullvad VPN. promise. Mullvad users may occasionally find