this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2025
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Privacy

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VPN Comparison (lemmy.ml)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by Charger8232@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
 

VPN Comparison

I made a spreadsheet comparing different open source VPN providers.

Part 2 here

Providers

Notes

  • Please do not start a flame war about Proton.
  • Please do not start a flame war about cryptocurrencies. Monero is the only cryptocurrency listed because of its privacy.
  • The very left column is the category for each row, the middle section is the various VPN providers, and the right section is which VPNs are the best in each category.
  • IVPN has two differing plans, which is why "Standard" and "Pro" are sometimes differentiated.
  • For accounts, "Generated" means a random identifier is created for you to act as your account, "Required" means you must sign up yourself. Proton VPN allows guest use under specific conditions (e.g. installed from the Google Play Store), but otherwise requires an account.
  • Switzerland is seen as more private than Sweden. Gibraltar is seen as privacy neutral.
  • All prices are in United States Dollars. Tax is not included.
  • Pricing is based on the price combination to achieve the exact time frame. For example, Proton VPN does not have a 3 year plan but you can achieve 3 years by combining a 2 year plan with a 1 year plan.
  • The availability section is security based. Availability is framed around a GrapheneOS and secureblue setup.
  • The Proton VPN Flatpak is unofficial, but based on the official code.
  • Availability on secureblue is based on the ujust install-vpn command. Security features must be disabled on secureblue in order to use the GUI for IVPN and Mullvad VPN, but not for Proton VPN. Mozilla VPN and NymVPN are available as Flatpaks, which are safer than layering packages.
  • I wanted to include more categories, such as which programming languages they are written in, connection speed, and security, but that became far too difficult and complex, so I decided to omit those categories.

Takeaways

  • NymVPN is very very new, but it's off to a strong start. It wins in almost every category. I actually hadn't heard of it until I started this project.
  • If you want a free VPN, Proton VPN is the only one here that meets that requirement.
  • If you want to pay week-by-week, IVPN is the only one that allows that.
  • If you're paying month-by-month on a budget, Mullvad VPN is the cheapest option.
  • NymVPN is the cheapest plan for anything past 1 month.
  • If you want to use Accrescent as your main app store, IVPN is the only VPN available there for now.
  • If you want to pay for a bundle of apps, including a VPN, Proton sells more than just a VPN.
  • Mozilla VPN is terrible. The only thing it has going for it is a verified Flatpak, but NymVPN also has that so it doesn't even matter.
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[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 5 points 6 days ago

Whats best for mainland China?

[–] dogs0n@sh.itjust.works 4 points 6 days ago

AirVPN needs some spotlight.

[–] Rose@lemmy.zip 48 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Why is being on the Google Play store a feature worth highlighting? To use an F-Droid expression, that would be an anti-feature.

[–] wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

With the upcoming restrictions on third-party apps that Google has announced maybe? It'll be easier to get from Play, and may not be available otherwise at all.

[–] Rose@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 week ago

I don't think giving into Google seizing more power is the way. People doing that is what enables the corporation to continue and have more control over their lives, including their privacy.

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[–] RaoulDook@lemmy.world 30 points 1 week ago (3 children)

What about logging policies? Seems like that would be an important category to visit - which providers store logs or don't etc. I've heard of some that use RAM-only logging that allegedly never gets stored on disk.

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[–] crunchy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 28 points 1 week ago (9 children)

Are any of these good options for port forwarding? I'm currently using PIA and I'd rather not.

[–] sixty@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Why not PIA? I was looking into it for port forwarding

[–] crunchy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

It's owned by an Israeli spyware company.

[–] sixty@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago

Of course 😔

[–] Charger8232@lemmy.ml 24 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Proton VPN supports port forwarding. IVPN and Mullvad VPN do not. Mozilla VPN and NymVPN don't explicitly state whether or not they do from what I found, so I'm not sure.

[–] newcool1230@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 week ago

Mozilla VPN is just mullvad so they do not

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[–] hexagonwin@lemmy.sdf.org 28 points 1 week ago

I believe Wireguard/OpenVPN/etc profile availability is more important than Google Play Store.

[–] Nelots@piefed.zip 21 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Why is proton consistently red in the pricing category despite being cheaper than (or on par with) other options like mozilla which is consistently yellow? Am I misreading this as green = good, red = bad?

[–] Charger8232@lemmy.ml 25 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

That seems to be a bug. That's my bad. Thanks for catching that! I'll fix it soon and edit the post.

Edit: Fixed! Sorry about that.

[–] spacemanspiffy@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago

I suggest adding AirVPN.

[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I have never heard of NymVPN

[–] FutileRecipe@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

Most people haven't, till they have.

[–] nothrone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Never heard of NymVPN. Does anyone use them?

I use Mullvad, and I really trust their devs. Not really looking to change, but having more options is always good.

[–] Brunette6256@sh.itjust.works 9 points 6 days ago

Yeah me neither. This kinda feels like a nymvpn ad

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[–] Corridor8031@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

I do not agree with placing switzerland over sweden in that location category

and i think a category should included, that tracks age of vpn or something like that, considering this is nymvpns biggest flaw.. still hard to say how trustworthy it is + their software is less battle tested

(~~and just for someone curiouse, it should be mentioned that nymvpn does use mullvad servers/ has a deal with mullvad~~ sry i mixed that up obscura and mullvad had partnership, not nymvpn)

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[–] apotheotic@beehaw.org 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Why is proton VPN excluded from the winners for open source, license, and based on, despite having the exact same values populated as the other 4 winners?

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[–] floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (7 children)

Does anyone have experience with the Mullvad, NymVPN, or AirVPN clients (if they exist) on Linux? I'm still mad Proton removed support for their Linux client and replaced it with an intern-level gnome-only taskbar applet. Also, do they support generating plain Wireguard configs?

[–] beSyl@slrpnk.net 14 points 1 week ago

Yes, I use mullvad VPN on Linux. It works fine. You don't need their client, of course, but it is good.

[–] Joseph_Boom@feddit.it 9 points 1 week ago

I can confirm that Mullvad VPN client works quite well on Linux.

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