Mullvad VPN Alternatives: Which One Actually Fixes What Mullvad Can't Do

There is no single best Mullvad alternative, because different Mullvad limitations lead to different replacements.

Mullvad sells one VPN plan. No higher tier sits above it quietly restoring the handful of things it doesn’t offer, which is exactly why, for a small number of specific needs, there’s no way to upgrade around the gap. You either switch, or you don’t need to.

Quick Answer: The Right Mullvad Alternative Depends on Why You’re Leaving

If you need…	Best-supported path	Why	Main catch
Port forwarding	Proton VPN Plus	Built into the paid VPN plan	Dynamic port, desktop only
Port forwarding and a static IP	NordVPN Dedicated Server	The only option that combines both	Separate paid add-on, requires a base subscription
A dedicated or static IP alone	ExpressVPN or NordVPN Dedicated IP	Both work; neither is clearly better	Add-on or tier dependency either way
More than five devices	Proton, ExpressVPN, or NordVPN	All three clear the limit	Only matters if five is genuinely too few
True app-level split tunneling on iOS/iPadOS	No clean option right now	Nothing tested offers real per-app iOS routing	Switching providers won’t solve this

When You Actually Need to Leave Mullvad

Not every complaint about Mullvad is a real reason to switch.

Some things Mullvad genuinely doesn’t do. Others just feel unfamiliar, or remain unresolved rather than confirmed one way or the other.

Four things are hard limits:

No port forwarding.
No dedicated or static IP.
A five-device cap.
No true app-level split tunneling on iOS or iPadOS.

Everything else, how you recover your account, whether streaming holds up, whether torrenting is officially supported, long-term pricing, a wider product bundle, how many audits a provider has published, is a preference or an open question rather than a missing feature. None of them, on its own, is a reason to switch.

If You Need Port Forwarding

If port forwarding is the only thing Mullvad is missing for you, Proton VPN Plus is the cleanest replacement in this comparison.

It’s included in the paid VPN plan, not sold as a separate product. It uses dynamic NAT-PMP, so the port can change rather than stay fixed, and it works on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

This also shows a pattern that runs through the rest of this guide: “does Provider X support this?” is often the wrong question. Where the capability lives matters just as much as whether it exists. ExpressVPN doesn’t offer VPN-tunnel port forwarding at all, and router-level forwarding outside the VPN tunnel is a different thing that won’t help here. NordVPN’s regular plan and its Dedicated IP add-on don’t include forwarding either. On NordVPN, forwarding lives inside one specific product, covered next.

If You Need Port Forwarding and a Static IP

If your actual requirement is two things at once, forwarding plus a fixed IP address, NordVPN Dedicated Server is the only option that combines both.

It isn’t a setting you switch on inside a normal NordVPN account. It’s a separate, paid Dedicated Server add-on, and it requires an active base NordVPN subscription underneath it. You can’t buy it on its own.

What it includes:

A static IP and forwarding together, on dedicated resources.
Pricing that starts at $11.99/month for the add-on. The exact term behind that starting rate isn’t publicly detailed, so treat it as a starting price rather than a fixed contract length.
A 4 TB monthly data allowance, with throttling once you go over it.
NordLynx only, across four fixed locations: Boston, Manchester, Frankfurt, and Paris.
No support through browser extensions or on tvOS.

This is a meaningfully bigger commitment than either forwarding or a static IP alone. It’s the right answer only when you genuinely need both capabilities together.

If You Need a Dedicated or Static IP Alone

If forwarding isn’t part of the requirement and you just want a fixed IP address, two options work, and neither is clearly better than the other.

ExpressVPN includes a dedicated IP automatically on its Pro plan, or as a paid add-on on Basic and Advanced. It covers 29 locations, though once you choose one, it’s fixed, and it requires the Lightway protocol. The exact add-on price on Basic and Advanced isn’t published.

NordVPN Dedicated IP is a separate paid add-on, linked to your account. It doesn’t include forwarding. That’s the Dedicated Server product, not this one.

The more practical deciding factor is which base plan you’re already planning to use. If you want ExpressVPN’s Pro tier anyway, the dedicated IP comes with it. If you’re already on NordVPN, the add-on is the simpler route.

If You Need More Than Five Devices

Mullvad allows five simultaneous devices. Proton VPN Plus, ExpressVPN, and NordVPN’s core plan all clear it, with Proton and NordVPN allowing 10 and ExpressVPN offering 10, 12, or 14 depending on plan.

All three solve this comfortably, so device count alone shouldn’t decide between them. If this is your only issue, choose based on whichever section above actually applies to you, or simply on price and general fit.

If You Need True Split Tunneling on iOS or iPadOS

If genuine app-level iOS split tunneling is your reason for leaving Mullvad, switching VPN providers doesn’t currently give you a clean solution.

ExpressVPN’s iOS option excludes traffic by IP address, not by app, which is a different mechanism producing a different result. Surfshark, PureVPN, Windscribe, and PIA were checked too. Each offers something adjacent, a website-only bypass, a split that only works on Windows or Android, a connection trigger rather than per-app routing, but none actually delivers app-level selective routing on iOS.

This isn’t proof that it’s impossible on iOS in every context. Apple documents a managed-device Per-App VPN capability, typically used in enterprise device management. But among the consumer VPNs tested here, none currently offers it.

Softer Reasons People Consider Leaving Mullvad

These aren’t missing features. They’re trade-offs worth understanding, not reasons to switch by themselves.

Account recovery. Mullvad asks for less conventional account identity, a random number instead of an email and password, which is why conventional account recovery is also weaker. Other providers restore familiar recovery by creating a more conventional account relationship instead. That’s the trade, and neither side of it is more private in an absolute sense.

Streaming. Some alternatives currently show stronger named-service results than Mullvad, but switching doesn’t buy guaranteed streaming access. Results depend on the service, region, server, and when you tested it, for every provider.

Torrenting and P2P. Mullvad’s current written P2P policy remains unresolved. Its lack of port forwarding is established. Those are different facts, and this shouldn’t be read as saying Mullvad blocks torrenting.

A broader product bundle. Mullvad doesn’t offer a wider suite beyond its VPN. That’s only a real reason to switch if you can name the specific product you want, since bundling doesn’t mean the pieces are actually integrated.

Independent audits and assurance. Don’t ask which VPN has more audits. Ask whether the claim you actually care about, no-logs, infrastructure, app security, was independently tested recently.

When Mullvad Is Still the Better Choice

Leaving isn’t automatically the right call, and that’s worth saying plainly. A reader with none of the four hard limits above may genuinely be better off doing nothing.

Stay with Mullvad if:

None of the four hard limits actually applies to you.
You prefer its flat pricing, EUR 5 per 30 days, VAT included, with no long-term discount to chase and no renewal step-up to plan around.
You prefer the numbered-account model and are comfortable handling your own account recovery.
Streaming uncertainty or an assumption that Mullvad blocks torrenting is your only concern. Neither is a confirmed reason to switch.
The alternative you’re considering would fix one thing but hand you a bigger new problem: a recurring add-on cost, a more complex account relationship, or a platform restriction you didn’t have before.

Wanting to see “alternatives” isn’t itself proof you should switch.

Choosing the Right Alternative

The decision comes down to one question: which specific thing does Mullvad not do for you, and is it one requirement, or two at once?

Port forwarding alone → Proton VPN Plus.
Port forwarding and a static IP together → NordVPN Dedicated Server.
A static IP alone → ExpressVPN or NordVPN Dedicated IP, whichever fits your existing plan.
More than five devices → any of the three main options.
True iOS or iPadOS app-level split tunneling → nothing solves this yet.
Anything else, recovery, streaming, torrenting, a bundle, audits → a preference to weigh, not a reason to switch by itself.

There’s no single winner across every case, because there’s no single reason people leave Mullvad in the first place.

Conclusion

Specify the requirement first. Then choose the product that actually resolves it.

Mullvad’s simplicity is also why its gaps are so clean. It doesn’t do a small number of things, and there’s no internal upgrade path to add them back. Every alternative that fixes one of those gaps brings something new along with it: a paid add-on, a base subscription requirement, a different account relationship, or a platform limit of its own. None of it is free, and none of it applies to every reader equally.

If your reason for leaving matches one of the hard limits above, you now know which product actually solves it, and what it costs you to get there. If it doesn’t, Mullvad is very likely still the right choice.

The STACK View

The best alternative isn’t the product that looks most like the one you’re leaving. It’s the product that fixes the reason you’re leaving it.

That’s only half the lesson. Where a capability lives matters too. A feature built into the VPN product you’re already paying for is a different commercial decision than the same feature sold as a tier, an add-on, or a separate product entirely. Two providers can both technically “support” something and still cost you completely different things to actually get it.

FAQs

Does Mullvad support port forwarding? No. It was removed and isn’t currently offered. Proton VPN Plus supports dynamic port forwarding on supported desktop platforms as part of the paid VPN entitlement.

What’s the difference between a dedicated IP and a dedicated server on NordVPN? A dedicated IP add-on gives you a static IP address only. Dedicated Server is a separate, larger add-on that adds a static IP and port forwarding together, on top of a base NordVPN subscription.

Is Mullvad good for torrenting? Its current written P2P policy isn’t clearly published, so that’s unresolved rather than confirmed either way. The clear limitation is port forwarding, which is a separate issue from whether P2P itself is supported.

Which Mullvad alternatives support more than five devices? Proton VPN Plus (10), ExpressVPN (10 to 14, depending on plan), and NordVPN’s core plan (10) all exceed Mullvad’s five-device limit.

Is there a Mullvad alternative with real iOS split tunneling? Not currently. No consumer VPN tested, including ExpressVPN, Surfshark, PureVPN, Windscribe, and PIA, offers genuine app-level split tunneling on iOS or iPadOS.

Is ExpressVPN or NordVPN better for a static IP? Neither is established as clearly better. ExpressVPN includes it on Pro or as an add-on elsewhere; NordVPN’s Dedicated IP add-on is the other option. The better fit depends on which base plan you’re already choosing.

Continue your research

Mullvad tends to appeal for a different reason than many mainstream VPNs: the attraction is often less about bundles, bonuses, or platform extras and more about whether its stripped-back model matches what you actually want from a VPN.

If you’re still deciding, these are the most useful next steps.

Understand Mullvad beyond the alternatives list

Test the trade-offs directly

Mullvad can be a strong fit if its privacy and control model lines up with your needs. But some of its limitations are structural, not things you can fix by upgrading to a higher plan.

Compare those trade-offs directly:

If Mullvad’s model feels too narrow

Look at the alternatives from the opposite direction: not “which VPN is best?”, but “which one solves the thing Mullvad deliberately leaves out?”