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There are several benefits to each of these VPN services. Both NordVPN and Mullvad are based in VPN-friendly locations, Panama and Sweden respectively unlike VPN Unlimited, which is US-based, and therefore subject to US law. However, VPN Unlimited does come out miles ahead in terms of the number of servers and IP addresses that it has; only NordVPN comes close in terms of the number of server locations. But, in terms of security NordVPN, with its 2048-bit encryption leaps ahead, and while all three providers provide a no-log service, only two – NordVPN and Mullvad – backup their users’ security with the existence of kill switches. All three offer similar payment methods, but NordVPN stands out in terms of value for money. And again, while all three support a wide range of operating systems and platforms, NordVPN is the most reliable.
Features
7.0
Pricing
6.8
Ease of Use
8.8
Reliability & Support
8.4
Features
10.0
Pricing
9.6
Ease of Use
10.0
Reliability & Support
10.0
Features
7.8
Pricing
8.8
Ease of Use
8.6
Reliability & Support
7.0
Rating
Features
7.0
10.0
7.8
Pricing
6.8
9.6
8.8
Ease of Use
8.8
10.0
8.6
Reliability & Support
8.4
10.0
7.0
Reviews
Review by our expert
Ren Sayer
Cybersecurity Researcher
6.2
Mullvad VPN has been popular among privacy buffs for some time now, but I’ve always wondered about its other features. Does it offer good value for your money? To find out, I tested its mobile and desktop apps and did some thorough research on its features.
From this, it’s clear that Mullvad VPN offers more than privacy and has strong security features — it isn’t far behind the premium...
Best VPN Out Of Most I've UsedVery fast, fastest I've used, simple interface with no silly world maps (I actually know where cities are) - Wireguard really does increase speed unlike some VPN's that have implemented it - Try it for a month & if you don't like it don't pay for more, unlike some VPN's who say money back after paying for a year but you have to jump through hoops & more - The latest Beta gives Ad-Blocking (DNS) & split-tunneling. IMHO wipes the floor with the rest, don't go by affiliate sites with the same top 4 in them, we know who they are & they aren't very good - Great VPN.
Latest negative user review
Kevin
2.0
Dishonest & GreedyWhen I send a payment to cover a certain number of months, I usually get less than that. They tend to subtract a week or more from these months. This is a rip-off, greedy thieves! Unfortunately, I lost trust in them. Hopefully, they'll change these tactics so that they can regain our trust. Nobody wants to be scammed or ripped off. We trust people who are honest.
It’s not often that a VPN has cheap prices coupled with an excellent set of features. Yet, when my team and I looked at what NordVPN has to offer, this is exactly what we found. It offers a huge global network of servers, unblocks hundreds of streaming platforms, and has iron-clad security and privacy features — and you can get it all for just $3.71/month. I had to wonder what the catch was.
...
For NordVPN-Android – NordVPN cannotThere is no Caveat Emptor here, nothing like that at all. Nothing to worry about because NordVPN has a top-notch of KillSwitch. It has never faltered in my case. Some instances that NordVPN connection is lost for like 10 seconds while I'm "incognito" in a streaming site, I immediately check with the site with regards to my interrupted connection and my real location did not register ;-) This happened a handful of times in fact. NordVPN will not leave you out in the cold so to speak ;-)
Just that since this is a review, it must be noted since features are being enumerated that Split Tunneling and KillSwitch cannot be enabled at the same time. It's either you use one or the other.
KillSwitch is not possible if you need to exclude an app from using VPN which means to Split Tunneling. Crypto wallet apps and apps that refuse to use VPN tunnel are such examples.
"Block Connections Without VPN" being 1 of 2 conditions that must be met to be able to utilize KillSwitch, and KillSwitch will not work if Split Tunneling is enabled. Ergo,
- It's either All apps are Blocked without VPN or No Apps are Blocked at all.
I thought pausing the VPN from its Notification will take care of this but in all my Android devices that have NordVPN the pausing from the notification does not work which makes me wonder if pausing/disconnecting from notification is a feature that works in Android.
Latest negative user review
JSA
2.0
Terrible serviceVery bad service, connection not working, online help chat disconnecting not solving anything...and in the end...very little letters saying the 30 day money-back doesn't apply because...blá blá.
I strongly advise you to choose another
Alex (Shurf) Frenkel
Ex-Hacker and Technical Researcher
6.6
VPN Unlimited is headquartered in New York and is the subsidiary of KeepSolid. While the fact that VPN Unlimited is US-based in New York does not thrill us (as opposed to, say, ExpressVPN, which runs out of the British Virgin Islands) VPN Unlimited provides users with a solid VPN service.
With its server locations and data centers in more than 39 countries and 50 regions respectively, VPN Unli...
Reliable and effective all the time!Everything works well and the smart DNS 100% allows viewing BBC. Cheap and good!
Easy to use in iOS, Mac, Win 10 (for me)
Customer service responded promptly though no much issue to ask for help so far.
Latest negative user review
Ricardo
2.0
Worst of the worstsCustomer service pretends to be stupid when you report problems. This VPN no longer protects your privacy, first they changed port numbers, 443 and 80 are no longer available, so now everybody can easily guess what you are up to, just by looking at what port you connect over. They force you to use either 1194 or 22. Then they changed MSS so the use of OpenVPN can be easily detected. Finally, Netflix no longer works over dedicated us-stream.vpnunlimitedapp.com servers. To watch Netflix they now want you to know to pay extra money for their SmartDNS service. The very dishonest company, by blocking Netflix they essentially defrauded clients who purchased VPN service!
Mullvad VPN has been popular among privacy buffs for some time now, but I’ve always wondered about its other features. Does it offer good value for your money? To find out, I tested its mobile and desktop apps and did some thorough research on its features.
From this, it’s clear that Mullvad VPN offers more than privacy and has strong security features — it isn’t far behind the premium...
It’s not often that a VPN has cheap prices coupled with an excellent set of features. Yet, when my team and I looked at what NordVPN has to offer, this is exactly what we found. It offers a huge global network of servers, unblocks hundreds of streaming platforms, and has iron-clad security and privacy features — and you can get it all for just $3.71/month. I had to wonder what the catch was.
...
VPN Unlimited is headquartered in New York and is the subsidiary of KeepSolid. While the fact that VPN Unlimited is US-based in New York does not thrill us (as opposed to, say, ExpressVPN, which runs out of the British Virgin Islands) VPN Unlimited provides users with a solid VPN service.
With its server locations and data centers in more than 39 countries and 50 regions respectively, VPN Unli...
Best VPN Out Of Most I've UsedVery fast, fastest I've used, simple interface with no silly world maps (I actually know where cities are) - Wireguard really does increase speed unlike some VPN's that have implemented it - Try it for a month & if you don't like it don't pay for more, unlike some VPN's who say money back after paying for a year but you have to jump through hoops & more - The latest Beta gives Ad-Blocking (DNS) & split-tunneling. IMHO wipes the floor with the rest, don't go by affiliate sites with the same top 4 in them, we know who they are & they aren't very good - Great VPN.
Marc
10.0
For NordVPN-Android – NordVPN cannotThere is no Caveat Emptor here, nothing like that at all. Nothing to worry about because NordVPN has a top-notch of KillSwitch. It has never faltered in my case. Some instances that NordVPN connection is lost for like 10 seconds while I'm "incognito" in a streaming site, I immediately check with the site with regards to my interrupted connection and my real location did not register ;-) This happened a handful of times in fact. NordVPN will not leave you out in the cold so to speak ;-)
Just that since this is a review, it must be noted since features are being enumerated that Split Tunneling and KillSwitch cannot be enabled at the same time. It's either you use one or the other.
KillSwitch is not possible if you need to exclude an app from using VPN which means to Split Tunneling. Crypto wallet apps and apps that refuse to use VPN tunnel are such examples.
"Block Connections Without VPN" being 1 of 2 conditions that must be met to be able to utilize KillSwitch, and KillSwitch will not work if Split Tunneling is enabled. Ergo,
- It's either All apps are Blocked without VPN or No Apps are Blocked at all.
I thought pausing the VPN from its Notification will take care of this but in all my Android devices that have NordVPN the pausing from the notification does not work which makes me wonder if pausing/disconnecting from notification is a feature that works in Android.
Anonymously
10.0
Reliable and effective all the time!Everything works well and the smart DNS 100% allows viewing BBC. Cheap and good!
Easy to use in iOS, Mac, Win 10 (for me)
Customer service responded promptly though no much issue to ask for help so far.
Latest negative user review
Kevin
2.0
Dishonest & GreedyWhen I send a payment to cover a certain number of months, I usually get less than that. They tend to subtract a week or more from these months. This is a rip-off, greedy thieves! Unfortunately, I lost trust in them. Hopefully, they'll change these tactics so that they can regain our trust. Nobody wants to be scammed or ripped off. We trust people who are honest.
JSA
2.0
Terrible serviceVery bad service, connection not working, online help chat disconnecting not solving anything...and in the end...very little letters saying the 30 day money-back doesn't apply because...blá blá.
I strongly advise you to choose another
Ricardo
2.0
Worst of the worstsCustomer service pretends to be stupid when you report problems. This VPN no longer protects your privacy, first they changed port numbers, 443 and 80 are no longer available, so now everybody can easily guess what you are up to, just by looking at what port you connect over. They force you to use either 1194 or 22. Then they changed MSS so the use of OpenVPN can be easily detected. Finally, Netflix no longer works over dedicated us-stream.vpnunlimitedapp.com servers. To watch Netflix they now want you to know to pay extra money for their SmartDNS service. The very dishonest company, by blocking Netflix they essentially defrauded clients who purchased VPN service!
Both Mullvad VPN and NordVPN exceed VPN Unlimited when it comes to privacy, but NordVPN’s security standards are unmatched. While VPN Unlimited has a much larger network of servers than the other two, having a highly secured network is more important, even if it's smaller. This is why NordVPN takes the lead with its Double VPN security - not to mention the great deals and coupons.
Both Mullvad VPN and NordVPN exceed VPN Unlimited when it comes to privacy, but NordVPN’s security standards are unmatched. While VPN Unlimited has a much larger network of servers than the other two, having a highly secured network is more important, even if it's smaller. This is why NordVPN takes the lead with its Double VPN security - not to mention the great deals and coupons.
VPN Unlimited and NordVPN both support torrenting openly on some of their servers, but NordVPN has servers which are optimized specifically for torrenting. On the other hand, Mullvad VPN supports torrenting, but in a very limited manner.
VPN Unlimited and NordVPN both support torrenting openly on some of their servers, but NordVPN has servers which are optimized specifically for torrenting. On the other hand, Mullvad VPN supports torrenting, but in a very limited manner.
All 3 VPN providers offer easy-to-install, easy-to-use apps for Windows. These applications have all their providers’ features built-in and you can switch between protocols and enable/disable the kill switch. All that may give you the impression there's a neck-to-neck competition here, but NordVPN takes the lead with its additional features, such as custom DNS and SmartPlay.
All 3 VPN providers offer easy-to-install, easy-to-use apps for Windows. These applications have all their providers’ features built-in and you can switch between protocols and enable/disable the kill switch. All that may give you the impression there's a neck-to-neck competition here, but NordVPN takes the lead with its additional features, such as custom DNS and SmartPlay.
Mullvad VPN falls behind in this section, as it still lacks its own Android app, and getting it to work on Android requires some setup steps. NordVPN and VPN Unlimited both have user-friendly Android apps, but the NordVPN Android app is considered more sleek, with way more built-in features and a more stable performance.
Mullvad VPN falls behind in this section, as it still lacks its own Android app, and getting it to work on Android requires some setup steps. NordVPN and VPN Unlimited both have user-friendly Android apps, but the NordVPN Android app is considered more sleek, with way more built-in features and a more stable performance.
The MacOS apps all 3 providers offer are pretty similar to their Windows apps, in the sense that they are all easy to download, install, and use. When it comes down to reliability, security, stability, and privacy, the NordVPN MacOS app takes the lead.
The MacOS apps all 3 providers offer are pretty similar to their Windows apps, in the sense that they are all easy to download, install, and use. When it comes down to reliability, security, stability, and privacy, the NordVPN MacOS app takes the lead.
iOS is another section Mullvad VPN falls behind in, as it doesn’t have its own iOS app and requires a manual setup or the installation of a third party app. This means that you won’t be able to use most of its features on iOS devices. NordVPN and VPN Unlimited compete aggressively for this title, but NordVPN wins the challenge due to its additional features and high performance.
iOS is another section Mullvad VPN falls behind in, as it doesn’t have its own iOS app and requires a manual setup or the installation of a third party app. This means that you won’t be able to use most of its features on iOS devices. NordVPN and VPN Unlimited compete aggressively for this title, but NordVPN wins the challenge due to its additional features and high performance.
Even though all 3 providers operate large server networks, including several servers inside the US, NordVPN has the largest network of them all, with 1000+ servers in the US. These include servers optimized for unblocking major streaming services which are geo-restricted to the US.
Even though all 3 providers operate large server networks, including several servers inside the US, NordVPN has the largest network of them all, with 1000+ servers in the US. These include servers optimized for unblocking major streaming services which are geo-restricted to the US.
Overall NordVPN is a clear and outright winner between these three providers. All offer steady services that allow connection to Netflix and the use of peer-to-peer and torrents, but NordVPN makes the experience easier, offering specific Torrent-friendly servers and access to the BBC, something that isn’t available through Mullvad. In terms of customer service, NordVPN is miles ahead of the other two providers, being the only one to offer dedicated 24/7 live support. It also offers the longest money-back guarantee at 30 days (not that you are likely to need it) and the best value for money packages, especially over the long term.
Interestingly, if you compare NordVPN with ExpressVPN, which is our top ranked vpn, you'll see that NordVPN can learn a lot from ExpressVPN. Compare NordVPN with ExpressVPN
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