Head to head
The gap
The security score is not a total of good things. It starts at 100 and eight channels each take a share of what is left, so one channel can settle a record on its own. Both records are drawn here on the same scale — the model’s own cap of 0.9 — rather than on a scale fitted to this pair, which would make every comparison look equally dramatic.
Line by line
Every field the contract publishes about a provider, in the contract’s own groups, including the rows where the two agree — a table that printed only differences would invent a disagreement, and one that printed only the interesting rows would be us choosing what is interesting. Open a group to read its rows; each one says how many it holds and how many of them the two records answer differently.
A green cell means the methodology itself prices that value below the other one, not that we prefer it. Rows the model does not price carry no mark at all: price is never marked, because nothing in the model says cheaper is safer, and neither is coverage, platform count or devices. Where a value was never established the cell says so instead of showing a zero.
What actually happened
Other pairs
Pairs within the top ten get a page — 80 comparisons in all. Records below that are not paired here: a comparison earns a page where the choice between the two is a real one, and that choice is made near the top of the register.
Security
Usability
Rank 6 of 68 in the register
United States · Commercial VPN
Exits in 91 countries
Security
Usability
Rank 2 of 68 in the register
Sweden · Commercial VPN
Exits in 50 countries
1 documented demand, none of which produced data
1 documented demand, none of which produced data
Notes
On the record as a whole.
The April 2023 search warrant is the strongest single item in this record: police attended the office and left with nothing, which is practice evidence rather than paper and ages far more slowly than an audit. Pricing is a flat 5 EUR/month on every term; U04_price_monthly carries 5.80 (the USD equivalent Mullvad states on its own page); U04b_price_yearly is 69.60, the full year at that rate.
On the record as a whole.
First fill 2026-08-26, refreshed 2026-09-12 on P03_court_record, P12_case_history and V12_client_open_source, refreshed again 2026-09-13 on M08_user_scale, P02_disclosure_history, P03_court_record, P05_transparency_report, P06_report_plausibility, P08_requests_received, P09_data_provided and P12_case_history, and refreshed again 2026-09-13 on U04_price_monthly and U04b_price_yearly.
The 2026-09-13 pass found PIA had published its Q1 2026 and Q2 2026 transparency reports since the record's last look at Q4 2025; the record now cites the Q2 2026 post (19 requests received, 0 resulting in data provided, covering April-June 2026, published 2026-08-06) as the freshest, with the same subpoenas/warrants/other/foreign breakdown structure as before.
M08_user_scale, P02_disclosure_history, P03_court_record and P12_case_history were re-read against the same sources and stand unchanged; the main transparency-report page still names no case beyond the 2016-2017 subpoenas already on file. The pricing re-read against the same buy-vpn-online page found both figures unchanged: month-to-month $11.95, one-year plan $47.88 billed for the first year and autorenewing at the same $47.88 with no intro/renewal gap, consistent with PIA's flat-rate pricing noted elsewhere in the catalogue.
Sourced from privateinternetaccess.com's own pages and blog, the two Deloitte ISAE 3000 (Revised) 'Independent Limited Assurance Report' PDFs (April 2024 and December 2025, both opened and read directly), Kape Technologies' own site, the Isle of Man/Companies House-sourced reporting on Kape's 2023 take-private by Unikmind Holdings (Teddy Sagi), and the official pia-foss GitHub organisation for the open-source clients.
The public CourtListener docket for United States v. McWaters (9:16-cr-80043, S.D. Fla.) was opened but names no subpoena, VPN provider or outcome; the affiliate writeup (vpncompare.co.uk) that describes that subpoena in detail was dropped as a forbidden source, and TorrentFreak's own coverage returned HTTP 403 to every fetch attempt this run, curl included. P03/P12 now rest on PIA's own transparency-report self-declaration instead.
Wikipedia was dropped from V12 in favour of the GitHub organisation itself. No affiliate or 'best VPN' aggregator site was used as a factual source anywhere in this record, even though several turned up repeatedly in search results with plausible-looking numbers (server counts, user counts, audit dates) that could not be cross-checked against a primary page and were discarded rather than used.
Recent changes
Open questions
Still open on this record.
The audit cadence. Mullvad publishes an audit index in the app repository and it is honest about cadence: the index states outright that the main app audits happen every two years, with extras in between, which is why regularity is recorded as repeated at no fixed interval rather than as an annual series — no annual cadence is claimed by anyone.
Two reports, one date. Two separate engagements share 2026-02-17 and the record names both: Assured's code review of GotaTun, the userspace WireGuard implementation (no critical, high or medium issues; two low and nine notes), and Leviathan's Mobile App Profile assessment of the Android app, whose compliance report gives February 17, 2026 as its date of evaluation and AL2 as its assurance level. One date, two reports, no contradiction.
Why the count reads eight. The audit count is eight because the GotaTun review sits outside the app repository's own list. Before them, a 30 person-day X41 D-Sec review across all five platforms found six vulnerabilities — three high, two medium, one low, none critical.
What no engagement covers. What none of these engagements covers is the server fleet: every one of them examines the app or the tunnel protocol, which is why fleet coverage is recorded as not applicable rather than as a sample. The no-logs claim on the infrastructure side therefore rests on the April 2023 search warrant — Swedish police came for customer data and left without it — and not on any audit.
Reproducible builds, Android only. Reproducible builds are Android-only, from version 2025.2 onward, so the field stays partial; the desktop and iOS builds are not verifiable bit-for-bit. Turkey is the one mandate country on the offered list and the hosting behind it is not established.
Nothing published about demands. Nothing on record rests on anything the provider publishes about demands it receives: there is no transparency report and no warrant canary, so the April 2023 seizure carries that ground alone. Kill-switch coverage and P2P policy are unestablished; the latest audit is a protocol code review, not a no-logs engagement, so V11 is silent and retention leans on the declaration.
Still open on this record.
What the report is. The security score rests on a Deloitte Audit SRL limited assurance report under ISAE 3000 (Revised), signed 19 December 2025 for the configuration as of 31 October 2025. Read what that is: the conclusion is negative assurance — "nothing has come to our attention" — against a description PIA's own management wrote, and the report states it provides no assurance for any other period.
Who the report is for. The auditor also restricts the report to PIA management and disclaims responsibility to any other reader, so the strongest document in this record is one whose author declines a duty of care toward the person reading it here. Procedures were performed on a sample basis, which is why fleet coverage is recorded as a sample.
What it did not examine. The report covers infrastructure only. C07a_app_sdk and C12_device_identifier are app-side facts it never examined; they now cite the privacy policy instead, which describes analytics for website visitors and opt-in diagnostic reports carrying platform and app version. Reading either as a statement about SDKs compiled into the app is the weakest link in this record, and the open-source clients are where it would actually be settled.
The 2016 subpoena rests on PIA's own word, not the court file. The only detailed account of the McWaters case (S.D. Fla., 9:16-cr-80043) sits on an affiliate site this record cannot cite; CourtListener's docket for that case names no subpoena, no provider and no outcome. P03_court_record and P12_case_history now stand on PIA's own transparency-report statement that it was subpoenaed in 2016-2017 and produced nothing — a B-level self-declaration, not a verified court record.
25 Sep 20261 changes
Monthly price USD, month-to-month plan, as chargedU04_price_monthly
5.8 changed to 5.69
12 Sep 20264 changes
Security scoresecurity.score
65 changed to 64
Security scoresecurity.score
64 changed to 60
Works under active censorshipU06_censorship_circumvention
none changed to claimed
Usability scoreusability.score
55 changed to 64
13 Sep 20261 changes
Why this provider is in the catalogueM14_inclusion_basis
hand_picked, adverse_record changed to adverse_record
12 Sep 20263 changes
Chronology of documented enforcement eventsP12_case_history
{"date":"2016-03","kind":"subpoena","outcome":"nothing_produced","source_url":"https://www.vpncompare.co.uk/private-internet-access-no-log-claim-put-to-the-test/"} changed to {"date":"2016-03","kind":"subpoena","outcome":"nothing_produced","source_url":"https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/transparency-report"}
Security scoresecurity.score
27 changed to 25
Requests received in periodP08_requests_received
30 changed to 19
30 Aug 20261 changes
Weakest protocol still offeredC13_weakest_protocol
wireguard changed to not on the record
By circumstance
| Mullvad VPN | Private Internet Access | |
|---|---|---|
| Torrenting | — not established | Allowed yes |
| Streaming | — not established | Reachable yes |
| Devices at once | 5 | unlimited |
| Under censorship | Claimed to work claimed | Claimed to work claimed |
| Exits in mandate countries | 1 Turkey | 6 United Arab Emirates, China, India, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Vietnam |
| Hosting in those countries | — not established | Physical and virtual both mixed |
| Company under a mandate | No such mandate no | No such mandate no |
| Secret orders | Orders go through a judge judicial_only | National security letters or their equivalent nsl_equivalent |
| ChannelPressure taken from what was left | Mullvad VPNDominant channel: Retention0 to 0.9, longer is worse | Private Internet AccessDominant channel: Integrity0 to 0.9, longer is worse |
|---|---|---|
| IntegrityHas it been caught saying one thing and doing another? | 0.000 | 0.459 |
| JurisdictionCan someone compel what exists, without the provider getting a say? | 0.050 | 0.272 |
| RetentionDoes a record exist that links traffic to a person, and who checked? | 0.218 | 0.188 |
| IgnoranceHow much of this did nobody establish? | 0.103 | 0.071 |
| HygieneWhat identifying material is collected in passing, and can the client be checked at all? | 0.050 | 0.101 |
| ArchitectureWho operates the exit, and what does it do to the traffic? | 0.050 | 0.050 |
| DisclosureHas it already handed something over? | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| SilenceTen years, millions of users and nothing on record? | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| What is left of 100The channels multiply: each one takes a share of what the one before it left standing | 60 | 25 |
Mullvad VPN and Private Internet Access were assessed by the HushFleet team: Mullvad VPN scores 60/100 for security, in the Acceptable band, and Private Internet Access 25/100, in the Insufficient band. They share an independent audit. The 35-point gap opens widest on Integrity — “Has it been caught saying one thing and doing another?” — taking 0% from Mullvad VPN and 46% from Private Internet Access.
| Mullvad VPN | Private Internet Access | |
|---|---|---|
| Security | 60 acceptable · rank 2 of 68 | 25 insufficient · rank 6 of 68 |
| Usability | 64 out of 100 | 73 out of 100 |
| Record completeness | 87% usability 75% | 89% usability 100% |
| Mullvad VPN | Private Internet Access | |
|---|---|---|
| Who operates the exit | Run by the provider itself provider_operated | Run by the provider itself provider_operated |
| Retention as declared | Nothing that links traffic to a person none_linkable | Nothing that links traffic to a person none_linkable |
| RAM-only diskless servers | Yes, on the provider's word yes_declaredBmullvad.net · | Yes, checked by someone independent yes_verifiedAassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
| IP allocation model | Exit address shared between users sharedBmullvad.net · | Dedicated address offered as an option dedicated_optionBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
| Signup without email | Yes, on the provider's word yes_declaredBmullvad.net · | No, an email address is required noBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
| Anonymous payment options | Cash · Cryptocurrency paid directly · Prepaid voucher or gift cardBmullvad.net · | Cryptocurrency through a processorBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
| Own DNS inside the tunnel | Yes, on the provider's word yes_declared | Yes, on the provider's word yes_declared |
| Worst third-party SDK category in the app | No third-party SDK noneBmullvad.net · | Analytics analyticsBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
| Worst third-party tracker category on the site | No third-party tracker noneBmullvad.net · | Analytics analyticsBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
| Who owns the hardware | Owned and rented both mixedBmullvad.net · | Owned by the provider ownedBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
| Offered countries that sit under a logging mandate | 1 TurkeyBmullvad.net · | 6 United Arab Emirates, China, India, Kazakhstan, Turkey, VietnamBserverlist.piaservers.net · 2 sources · |
| Hosting in the mandate countries it offers | — not establishedno source published | Physical and virtual both mixedBserverlist.piaservers.net · 2 sources · |
| Incorporation country mandates retention | No such mandate no | No such mandate no |
| Beneficial owner sits under a retention regime | No such regime no | No such regime no |
| Persistent device identifier | None held noneBplay.google.com · | An identifier scoped to the app app_scoped_idBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
| Weakest protocol still offered | — the question does not arise | — the question does not arise |
| What the exit does to passing traffic | — not established | — not established |
| Mullvad VPN | Private Internet Access | |
|---|---|---|
| At least one independent audit | Yes, and the report was read yes_verified | Yes, and the report was read yes_verified |
| How the report is published | The full report is published full_pdf | The full report is published full_pdf |
| Subject of the audit | The protocol · The app's securityAassured.se · 2 sources · | The no-logs claim itself · The infrastructureAassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
| Server fleet coverage | — the question does not ariseno source published | A sample of servers sampleAassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
| Mullvad VPN | Private Internet Access | |
|---|---|---|
| Server seizure by law enforcement | Seized, and nothing usable was on it seizure_no_dataBmullvad.net · | No seizure on record none_knownCprivateinternetaccess.com · |
| Actual disclosure history | No disclosure on record none_known | No disclosure on record none_known |
| Court record of compelled production | No court record none_knownBmullvad.net · | Told a court it had nothing to produce unable_to_produceBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
| Mullvad VPN | Private Internet Access | |
|---|---|---|
| Documented gap between claim and behaviour | No documented lie noneCgithub.com · | — not establishedno source published |
| Marketing against audit findings | No gap on record noneCgithub.com · | — not establishedno source published |
| Ownership structure transparency | Ownership is stated and checkable clearBmullvad.net · | Ownership is partly stated partialBprivateinternetaccess.com · 2 sources · |
| Adverse events on the owner group record |
| Mullvad VPN | Private Internet Access | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Mullvad VPN AB, Box 53049, 400 14 Gothenburg, SwedenBmullvad.net · | PIA Private Internet Access, Inc., 5555 DTC Parkway, Suite 360, Greenwood Village, CO 80111, USAAassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
| Where the company sits | Sweden SEBmullvad.net · | United States USAassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · 2 sources · |
| Year the service launched | 2009Bmullvad.net · |
| Mullvad VPN | Private Internet Access | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms with a client | 5 Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, WindowsBmullvad.net · | 9 Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Routers, Android TV, Apple TV, Browser extensionBprivateinternetaccess.com · 2 sources · |
| Countries with an exit | 50 countriesBmullvad.net · | 91 countriesBserverlist.piaservers.net · 2 sources · |
| Paying monthly | $5.69 per monthBmullvad.net · | $11.95 per month |
| Auditor name |
|---|
| Assured Security Consultants (GotaTun code review) and Leviathan Security Group (Android Mobile App Profile assessment) — two engagements, both reports dated 2026-02-17Aassured.se · 3 sources · |
| Deloitte Audit SRL (Romania)Aassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
| Auditor category | A security specialist security_specialistBgithub.com · | One of the Big Four big4Aassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Assurance standard | Another standard otherBgithub.com · | ISAE 3000 isae3000Aassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Date of latest report | 2026-02-17Aassured.se · 2 sources · | 2025-12-19Aassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Audit cadence | Repeated, at no fixed interval repeated_irregular | Repeated, at no fixed interval repeated_irregular |
|---|
| Total published audits | 8Bgithub.com · 2 sources · | 3Bprivateinternetaccess.com · 3 sources · |
|---|
| Retention as the report states it | The report does not address retention not_statedBgithub.com · | Nothing that links traffic to a person none_linkableAassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Client source code published | Every client all | Every client all |
|---|
| Reproducible builds | On some platforms partialBmullvad.net · | — not establishedno source published |
|---|
| Separate pentest | Yes, and the report was read yes_verifiedAx41-dsec.de · 2 sources · | — not establishedno source published |
|---|
| Strength of the assurance opinion | — the question does not ariseno source published | A limited-assurance conclusion limitedAassets-cms.privateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Response to a national logging mandate |
|---|
Was never present in that country no_presenceBmullvad.net · |
Pulled its servers out rather than comply withdrew_physicalBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
| Transparency report | — not establishedno source published | Current, with request numbers fresh_with_numbersBprivateinternetaccess.com · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Reported numbers plausible for this scale | — the question does not ariseno source published | The numbers are plausible at this scale plausibleCprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Warrant canary discipline | — not establishedno source published | Never had one noneBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Requests received | — not establishedno source published | 19Bprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Requests that produced data | — not establishedno source published | 0Bprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Secret-order regime | Orders go through a judge judicial_onlyBmullvad.net · | National security letters or their equivalent nsl_equivalentCeff.org · |
|---|
| Chronology of documented enforcement events | 1 documented demandBmullvad.net · | 1 documented demandBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
Nothing adverse on record cleanCmullvad.net · |
A history of adware or malware adware_malware_historyCen.wikipedia.org · 3 sources · |
| How the service is paid for | Paid subscriptions only paid_only | Paid subscriptions only paid_only |
|---|
| Claims of 100% anonymity or military-grade crypto | — not establishedno source published | Claims total anonymity or military-grade encryption yesBprivateinternetaccess.com · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Aggressive lifetime subscriptions | Does not no | Does not no |
|---|
| Coverage exists only on affiliate sites | Covered outside affiliate sites too no | Covered outside affiliate sites too no |
|---|
| Security incident and how it was disclosed | Disclosed by the provider, promptly self_disclosed_promptBmullvad.net · | No incident on record none_knownCprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Affiliate programme and payout tier | No affiliate programme noneBmullvad.net · | A standard payout standardBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Owner-run review media discloses the tie | — the question does not arise | — the question does not arise |
|---|
| App store declaration | The store form matches the published policy matches_policy | The store form matches the published policy matches_policy |
|---|
| User base scale (mass >=10M, mid >=1M, niche <1M) | Mid: a million users or more mid | Mid: a million users or more mid |
|---|
| Ultimate beneficial owner as written | Amagicom AB, 100% owned by founders Fredrik Stromberg and Daniel BerntssonBmullvad.net · | Teddy Sagi, via Unikmind Holdings Limited (Isle of Man), sole shareholder of Kape Technologies plc since the May 2023 delisting; Kape owns PIA Private Internet Access, Inc.Cen.wikipedia.org · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Other businesses of the owner group | None disclosedBmullvad.net · | Antivirus · A review directory · Adtech or adwareCen.wikipedia.org · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Country of the ultimate beneficial owner | SEBmullvad.net · | IMBcains.com · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Owner group | independentBmullvad.net · | kapeBkape.com · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Date the current owner took control | — the question does not ariseno source published | 2019-12Bkape.com · |
|---|
| Role of this brand inside the group | The group's principal brand principalBmullvad.net · | A secondary brand secondary_brandCkape.com · |
|---|
| Infrastructure shared with cluster siblings | Separate infrastructure separateBmullvad.net · | — not establishedno source published |
|---|
| Paying yearly | $69.60 a year at renewal, billed onceBmullvad.net · | $47.88 a year at renewal, billed onceBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Usable free tier | No free tier none | No free tier none |
|---|
| Works under active censorship | Claimed to work claimed | Claimed to work claimed |
|---|
| Protocols offered | 1 WireGuardBmullvad.net · 2 sources · | 3 WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2Bhelpdesk.privateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Kill switch coverage | — not establishedno source published | On every platform all_platformsBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Split tunneling available | Available yes | Available yes |
|---|
| Simultaneous connections | 5Bmullvad.net · | unlimitedBprivateinternetaccess.com · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Friction to start using it | No account needed no_accountBmullvad.net · | An email address only email_onlyBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| P2P allowed | — not establishedno source published | Allowed yesBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
| Major streaming services reachable | — not establishedno source published | Reachable yesBprivateinternetaccess.com · |
|---|
