- Mullvad will take away OpenVPN assist from January 15, 2026
- The transfer comes because the VPN supplier seems to be to prioritize WireGuard
- Mullvad has additionally introduced the arrival of in-app updates for Home windows and Mac
Mullvad, the Sweden-based VPN supplier identified for its robust privateness focus and flat-rate pricing, will quickly be eradicating OpenVPN assist in favor of WireGuard.
The change will take impact on January 15, 2026, offering present Mullvad subscribers with time to make the change earlier than OpenVPN servers and assist are eliminated.
Already the default protocol for all Mullvad apps, WireGuard is employed by most of the finest VPN companies in the marketplace.
Reminder about eradicating OpenVPN: we’re eradicating assist for OpenVPN totally on fifteenth January 2026, in six months time.OpenVPN servers will likely be utterly eliminated on this date, and assist for it inside our app will disappear.Please reconfigure your configurations to make use of…August 18, 2025
“We’re eradicating assist for OpenVPN totally on fifteenth January 2026, in six months time. OpenVPN servers will likely be utterly eliminated on this date, and assist for it inside our app will disappear,” wrote the supplier in an announcement shared on X.
With Mullvad’s Android and iOS apps already supporting WireGuard completely, the transition solely impacts desktop customers who will obtain reminders inside Mullvad’s Home windows, Mac, and Linux apps.
Mullvad has reminded subscribers to regulate present OpenVPN configurations to keep away from potential interruptions to the service.
Though the information could come as a shock, Mullvad co-founder Fredrik Strömberg wrote that “WireGuard is the longer term” as early as 2017.
Why WireGuard?
WireGuard, a more moderen VPN protocol first launched in 2016, has been adopted by main VPN suppliers together with Surfshark, IPVanish, and Proton VPN. NordLynx, the proprietary protocol of NordVPN, makes use of a customized implementation of WireGuard.
Mullvad’s determination to drop OpenVPN marks a big shift, as most VPN suppliers nonetheless provide a number of protocols for flexibility throughout networks and gadgets. As Jan Jonsson, Mullvad CEO, instructed TechRadar’s Chiara Castro in November 2024, lower than 7% of Mullvad customers are utilizing OpenVPN.
“By transferring to a single protocol, we will focus our sources the place they’ll make a distinction”, mentioned Mullvad in a November 2024 weblog put up.
WireGuard has simply 4,000 strains of code, in comparison with greater than 70,000 strains for OpenVPN. Mullvad has praised WireGuard’s easy design, which, other than making for simpler integration of latest options, permits for sooner speeds. This doesn’t come at the price of safety both, with Mullvad citing WireGuard’s “state-of-the-art cryptography.”
Such is its perception in WireGuard, Mullvad made “a large donation” in 2017 to assist the open-source protocol’s growth. To make issues simpler for subscribers seeking to make the change, Mullvad’s web site supplies guides on the way to use WireGuard.
Maintaining with Mullvad’s updates is now simpler than ever
Mullvad’s determination to retire OpenVPN and absolutely deal with WireGuard isn’t its solely latest change. The VPN supplier has additionally introduced in-app updates for desktop.
As a substitute of getting to go to Mullvad’s web site to obtain and set up the newest updates, Home windows and macOS customers can now view and obtain them instantly inside the app, making it faster and simpler than ever to remain up-to-date.
Mullvad states that Linux customers can even profit from computerized updates through its Linux app repositories and supplies directions to make the method extra simple.
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