There are only two good ones are both based in Sweden. Mullvad gets a lot of hype but just as good is https://ovpn.se

OVPN also has been proven in Swedish court system by winning a court case that The Pirate Bay was behind their network and movie companies wanted their data. The whole case was hilarious and the movie company really tried to squeeze out something that wasn't there. They got nothing in the end and had to pay OVPNs court costs. On top of that it created praxis that it will be much harder for Swedish VPN companies to get subpoenaed or raided in the future, which we saw in the recent Mullvad raid. The Swedish police knew there was nothing to get, but the German police didn't.

https://www.ovpn.com/en/blog/ovpn-wins-court-order

I think they get way to little attention in the privacy discussion forums. They also never rent hardware (like Mullvad does), they run their diskless servers on OVPN owned hardware in colocation datacenters.

They also accepts cash just as Mullvad and another very nice thing is that they provide a service where you can get a public IPv4 address with all ports open for your server needs.

    Really appreciate the thorough recommendations here.

    [deleted] Chalko TrustExecutor
    How would y'all compare these VPN service providers to ProtonVPN?
    I imagine Swiss law is roughly on par with Swedish law in this regard?

            Colvdv

            I also used NordVPN for a long time, before iswitched to Mullvad.

            Dont want to bash Nord, but the things you have to do, to delete a Nord Account is just crazy for a "privacy" orientated company.

              • [deleted]

              • Post #8

              Colvdv NordVPN changed their policy a few years ago and now it stores logs and will be in disposition of law agents if requested.

                  zzz I myself do not trust Proton as much even if I use their services from time to time. They do not have a proven track record of not collecting any data, they do not offer cash payments, they offer free plans (nothing is free), use rented or virtual servers. I have no proof about it but the whole company has an aura of being a honeypot for privacy concious people and activists.

                  There is another Swedish company that is run by Peter Sunde, one of the founder of Pirate Bay, https://njal.la that is also higly rated in terms of privacy.

                  I would say Mullvad and OVPN is more "hardcore" and Proton is a "vanilla" company.
                  You can also check out Icelandic companies like https://1984.is and https://www.orangewebsite.com/ to rent a VPS and run your own VPN server.

                      Thanks for the suggestions.
                      I have ISP with dynamic ip address which i scheduled to change everyday, and i use a different dns server.
                      Im not planning to use vpn full time, my major use case is that there are few websites i used to download movies which is now being blocked by them.
                      I was looking for a free vpn with reasonable speed, thats why asked about the Riseup VPN in particular.

                      This is what I use and run my privacy invasive apps through it. I think you will be perfectly happy with RiseUp and your intended use. Especially since it also has servers outside the US (Canada, France, Netherlands)

                      TrustExecutor
                      I do not use Proton, just want to comment on some of the statements in your post.

                      TrustExecutor they do not offer cash

                      They actually do offer payment by cash...

                      TrustExecutor they offer free plans (nothing is free),

                      Their free plans are sustained by paying customers. This is also likely one of the reasons why their paid plans are more expensive than their competitors. It's also in their interest for people to be able to try out their product before paying, especially considering the steep price. They probably earn more money this way.

                      TrustExecutor use rented or virtual servers

                      They use both owned and rented. Literally every VPN company out there rely mostly on rented servers.

                      TrustExecutor I have no proof about it

                      The rest of this sentence is speculation and not backed up by evidence.

                      On-topic: My subjective impression is that Riseup is respected and their services used often by activists in repressed countries. Their VPN seems to be funded by donations. I don't think that's a sustainable model for a VPN service. Operating these are expensive and I'd rather bet on a paid service if you can afford it.

                                TrustExecutor Are OVPN apps open source? I am waiting for my NordVPN subscriptions to run out and I was planning on using Mullvad. I didn´t know about OVPN. According to some searches, it seems more suitable for Streaming services.
                                Thank you!

                                  Fyi, https://riseupsnitched.com/

                                  Self-declared connections btwn riseupvpn, bitmask/leap, calyxvpn, libraryvpn, survpn, and "lavabit encrypted proxy" (a fork) may be of interest

                                  I can also vouch for Mullvad. They're always stepping up their game. The diskless servers, investing in WireGuard, QubesOS, not asking for information to signup...

                                  Thanks to them, in early 2012 I bought a lot of Bitcoin (less than $5 back then) to pay for their service. I appreciate them for it.

                                    • [deleted]

                                    • Post #17

                                    Colvdv Thanks for the tip. I have abandoned NordVPN years ago and really not interested in the notices about this company. In any case, I know people that are using it and I know the Android app includes some analytic trackers

                                      8 months later

                                      Yeah Riseup VPN does seem to be the best of the free options, it has a good reputation, but they really do need as many donations they can get, I am sure they are not getting enough

                                      • [deleted]

                                      • Post #19

                                      Corsair Mullvad Browser is another huge reason to go with their VPN.

                                          Riseup VPN seems to be down right now, as in all servers seem to be down, such a shame, I guess they finally ran out of money, they provided an important service as they were not just free but no sign up needed

                                            • [deleted]

                                            • Post #24

                                            [unknown] That is also true, but Mullvad having a browser that works just like Tor Browser makes their VPN service more trustworthy. Rather than filling the internet with endless marketing campaigns like Nord does, they simply gestured an additional useful tool that compliments the use of any VPN.