Absolute Anonymity: This VPN allows cash payments and costs the same every month, forever

Mullvad VPN homescreen on an Android device laid out on a table — (Image credit: Nano Banana)

In an age where everyone from advertising companies to government agencies is trying to snoop on your online activities, a VPN is a vital tool in keeping your private data...private.

The best VPNs don’t log any information about who you are or what you get up to online - or do they? Signing up to a premium VPN means signing up for a payment plan, and that’s an avenue by which a VPN account can be tied to a specific person.

Some VPNs offer alternative methods of payment such as crypto-currency or gift cards, but the most secure, anonymous payment method is still cold, hard cash.

Enter Mullvad VPN. While it might be a little feature-light compared to other, more expensive VPNs, it offers the core features we want to see in every VPN we recommend like a kill switch, obfuscated connections, a no-logging policy, multihop servers and, more uniquely, the ability to pay for your subscription with cash in an envelope.

Best ways to stay anonymous online

With the ability to sign up anonymously, and pay for your subscription with cash, there’s no better choice than Mullvad if anonymity is your top concern.

Most premium VPNs will let you sign up using debit cards, Paypal and crypto-currency. Mullvad takes this further and accepts payment through Monero, bank transfers, Swish, EPS transfer, Bancontact, iDEAL | Wero, and Przelewy24.

Mullvad’s overall offering is less extensive compared to other premium VPNs out there. There’s no dark web monitoring, no integrated anti-virus, ad blocking or any of the other added features that come with more expensive competitors. If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution for your online security, there are better options out there.

Mullvad focuses on doing one job, and doing it well, and that’s securing your connection from anyone who might want to snoop on it.

Other VPN providers do that too, but they also tend to cost more than Mullvad does. Mullvad is one of the few providers to provide a list of not only where its servers are located in the world, but who the service provider is for each server.

You can even see whether the hardware is owned by Mullvad itself or rented from someone else, allowing you to see the companies your internet traffic interacts with, every step of the way from your device to the internet.

Mullvad’s commitment to transparency even extends to their VPN client, which is Open Source, meaning anyone can look at the source code and confirm if the company is serious about its privacy claims.

After graduating from Stirling University with a qualification in Education, Shaun accidentally fell into the technology sector in the late 1990's and has stayed there ever since, working for companies such as PSINet, IBM and ProPrivacy in a variety of roles from Systems Administration to Technical Writer. Being around since the birth of the modern internet, he's seen the way that technology has expanded to become an integral part of everyday life, and how people's understanding and ability to retain any kind of privacy has lagged behind.

Shaun is a strong believer in the rights of the individual to have their personal data protected and their privacy respected – a belief made all the stronger in an age of surveillance from both governmental bodies and private companies all around the world.

He spends his spare time cooking, riding his motorbike and spending far too many hours in Star Trek Online hunting Klingons and Borg.