Mullvad DNS
Hacker ApprovedRanked 4 of 9 DNS resolvers by recommenders
Free encrypted DNS with no account needed that blocks ads system-wide. Critics find it slower than Quad9 or Cloudflare.
Free encrypted DNS with no account needed that blocks ads system-wide. Critics find it slower than Quad9 or Cloudflare.
26 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 21
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 81%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 21 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Blocks ads across the whole device
“Mullvad's adblocking DNS was really nice and convenient”
Comment from 5 Sep 2026 in “Shutting down our public encrypted DNS” “Mullvad DNS blocks all ads across the system.”
Comment from 5 Sep 2026 in “Shutting down our public encrypted DNS” “It blocks ads device wide across all apps.”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “How I block all online ads” - Comment from 22 Nov 2025 in “The privacy nightmare of browser fingerprinting”
- Comment from 9 Nov 2025 in “Ask HN: How would you set up a child’s first Linux computer?”
Free, no account or subscription
“mullvad's DNS routes to it with adblocking, you do not need to be a subscriber to use it”
Comment from 22 Mar 2026 in “Atlassian Says It Had Right to Fire Engineer for Suggesting CEO Is 'Rich Jerk'” “it doesn't require an account, and is free for unlimited use”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “How I block all online ads” “as a free to use for all byproduct of their other offerings”
Comment from 12 Mar 2026 in “Ask HN: Do You Use Ublockdns.com?” - Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “How I block all online ads”
Fast speeds compared with Quad9
“it was much faster than Quad9 for this purpose”
Comment from 4 Sep 2026 in “Shutting down our public encrypted DNS” “I got some incredible speeds from Mullvad”
Comment from 5 Sep 2026 in “Shutting down our public encrypted DNS” Works as a DNS over HTTPS server
“Change your DNS in your browser to DNS over HTTPS. I use mullivad's server.”
Comment from 22 Aug 2026 in “Felony charges for citizen deleting phone data at US Border” “For example a DoH DNS profile pointing at DNS servers that do that for you”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Orion 1.0”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Slow response times
“Mullvad DNS can be a little slower compared to quad9 or cloudflare”
Comment from 19 Dec 2025 in “Firefox is becoming an AI browser and the internet is not at all happy about it” “I compared pings recently and was getting like 200-300ms to the closest mullvad DoH server.”
Comment from 5 Sep 2026 in “Shutting down our public encrypted DNS” “They're pretty slow for me, 350ms on average”
Comment from 10 Nov 2025 in “DNS Provider Quad9 Sees Piracy Blocking Orders as "Existential Threat"” Default malware and blacklist blocking
“Mullvad had adblocking, malware blocking. And they didn’t block websites from governments blacklists in France and Italy.”
Comment from 4 Sep 2026 in “Shutting down our public encrypted DNS” “the default of blocking 'malware' doesn't jive with uncensored internet”
Comment from 5 Sep 2026 in “Shutting down our public encrypted DNS”
Other DNS resolvers people recommend
The four most recommended other DNS resolvers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quad9 DNS | 58 | 38 | 60% | 10 | — | — |
| Cloudflare DNS | 52 | 55 | 49% | 11 | — | — |
| Unbound DNS resolver | 45 | 4 | 92% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Mullvad DNSThis page | 21 | 5 | 81% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Google Public DNS | 18 | 9 | 67% | 11 | — | Approved |
What people said
25 of the 28 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the default of blocking 'malware' doesn't jive with uncensored internet”
“it worked quite well with SoundCloud etc.”
“I got some incredible speeds from Mullvad”
“I compared pings recently and was getting like 200-300ms to the closest mullvad DoH server.”
“Mullvad's adblocking DNS was really nice and convenient”
“Mullvad DNS blocks all ads across the system.”
“Mullvad had adblocking, malware blocking. And they didn’t block websites from governments blacklists in France and Italy.”
“That was not the case with Mullvad's DNS.”
“it was much faster than Quad9 for this purpose”
“Mullvad talks a lot about decentralization, then hands its resolver users to one of the biggest resolvers going.”
“Change your DNS in your browser to DNS over HTTPS. I use mullivad's server.”
“mullvad's DNS routes to it with adblocking, you do not need to be a subscriber to use it”
“as a free to use for all byproduct of their other offerings”
“Mullvad DNS can be a little slower compared to quad9 or cloudflare”
“it doesn't require an account, and is free for unlimited use”
“This works the same way as NextDNS on Android but is less customizeable.”
“what I point others to is Mullvad DNS, which is free”
“It blocks ads device wide across all apps.”
“For example a DoH DNS profile pointing at DNS servers that do that for you”
“You can do dns ad blocking”
“I primarily use the last two. They offer it as a public service, similar to quad9.”
“They're pretty slow for me, 350ms on average”
“Outages what feels like a daily basis.”
“I found them more acceptable.”
“family blocks: Ads, Trackers, Malware, Adult, Gambling”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.