I've used both Mullvad and ProtonVPN, and the former is much better

VPN
1

I’ve been using Mullvad for going on 4 years now, but I’ve also used Proton VPN. I recently switched back to Proton a few months ago after realizing that I had credits that I completely forgot about.

One thing that I’ve noticed is that Proton seems to struggle with maintaining a consistent connection while I am away from home and have it activated (over public Wi-Fi networks). I’ve seen it constantly try to reconnect. It’s rare for me to experience that problem while using Mullvad.

I have also noticed that streaming videos can be a pain for me when using Proton. Whether at home, and streaming with Google TV boxes, or tablets, videos will stop quite a bit to buffer. And that’s while trying to stream 720p. Again, I don’t have this issue will Mullvad. My Internet is pretty fast, especially when I have VPN services turned off.

2

I have gone the other way, I was blocked a lot on Mullvad, I do not see that amount of blocking on Proton so far

3

I have Mullvad 80% of the time connected with the WireGuard Native app always connected 24/7 to my local area. I have proton rarely use it just because it comes with my Proton Package.I only use it with my Nvidia Shield it seems to be always connected for streaming like stuff from US Hulu,and Peacock etc etc.

4

For torrenting I prefer Proton due to Port Forwarding. I have them in Docker containers

5

Used Mullvad for years before having constant issues with the service and connectivity, been using Proton for 4 months now with no dramas.

6

I’ve used both. Proton is much better imo. Stable and fast. Plus no port forwarding on Mullvad is a deal breaker

7

I use both. Proton does disconnect at least once a day and I have to manually reconnect. But Mullvad gets blocked a lot. So I use a judicious combination of both VPNs which I believe is the best combination in the market.

8

Blocking IP addresses of VPN providers is really not difficult and there is nothing they can do about it. But there is something YOU can do: buy a cheap machine on AWS (or any other provider) and route your traffic through there as exit node (or just use the IP address as proxy on your browser). You will always get a non-blocked IP addresses for just a few bucks.

9

For extreme privacy but less daily usage, Mullvad.

For more privacy and stability, Proton.

10

I have to use both because each have dealbreakers. Mullvad has no port forward for torrenting. Proton can’t use split tunneling with kill switch and has no socks proxy which effectively solves that problem by your browser not being able to connect if the vpn goes down.

11

Mullvad is good from a privacy perspective, but every other website or app gets blocked. Proton is the only one usable for daily browsing atm.

12

I use both of them depending on the location and network signal I have

13

I’ve been using the free version of Proton for a while now and definitely have had connection issues on both my phone and laptop. It’ll just randomly decide to stall out until I manually disconnect it. I’m considering switching over to Mullvad or at least trying it out, both the VPN and browser.

14

Funny, it’s the other way around for me. Mullvad works better for me, as well. Besides that, the Proton app, on both Windows and Linux, is much heavier on the resources, too.

I get way fewer Captchas with Mullvad than I get with Proton. I guess it also depends on which server you use.

15

Out of curiosity, which country server do you usually use? I’m in the UK so prefer using UK servers, and I had major issues with Mullvad being blocked a lot the last year (and I used Mullvad for at least 7 years and not have issues previously).

I pay for Proton Mail but haven’t tried their VPN yet, might give it a go (think it’s included).

16

Thats because you choose a server and refuse to try others.

17

Does your VPN stay connected after you exit the VPN app? I struggled with this and was happening across board. Mullvad/PIA/Proton. I just installed VPN on my router and bind it to Shield and no longer have the issue. I have an app to check the IP everytime I open Shield just to make sure

18

Mullvad constantly disconnects and then reconnects, and often to a different server within the same city.

Started every hour and then it became constant to the point of being unusable.

Contacted Mullvad and they stated this was impossible and unheard of, yet if you search Reddit, others have the same issue.

Problematic if you are shopping or a site thinks you are a robot and then bans the IP.

19

Mullvad had port-forwarding but you can thank the people who abused that system for Mullvad removing it. Could be just matter of time before Proton removes it too.

20

Would this not kill the privacy of using Mullvad though, or can you buy an AWS machine anonymously?