The archive · Developer & Business Tools · Strategic decision · 2022–2026
Mullvad shuts its public DNS and sponsors Quad9 instead
Sweden's no-logs VPN maker retires the free encrypted-DNS service it ran since 2022, and gives the money to nonprofit Quad9 rather than keep competing.
Mullvad VPN AB
What the business is
Mullvad sells a flat-fee, no-account, no-log VPN, and had run free public DNS-over-HTTPS servers since 2022 for people who wanted encrypted DNS outside the VPN.
How it started
Mullvad built its name on radical privacy: no email or account names, cash payments by mail, published audits, RAM-only servers. In 2022 it added free public DoH/DoT resolvers with optional ad, tracker and malware blocking, as a service for the open internet rather than for its own subscribers.
What happened
Keeping that resolver honest took continuous work — anycast infrastructure, weekly blocklist updates, abuse handling. Mullvad began retiring side projects on the same logic: last year it closed the Leta search proxy, and it already partners with the Tor Project on the Mullvad Browser instead of building its own.
How it ended up
On September 3, 2026, Mullvad announced the public DNS servers will shut down on November 2, 2026, and that it will financially sponsor Quad9 instead. VPN subscribers are unaffected; Mullvad Browser users on default settings migrate automatically, while users of custom iOS/macOS DoH profiles must switch to Quad9 profiles before the deadline. As of September 2026 the switch is still in progress.
Background
Mullvad, the Swedish no-log VPN maker, ran free public encrypted DNS servers (DoH/DoT) since 2022 as a privacy service for anyone on the open internet, not just subscribers. The service offered filtering variants for ads, trackers, malware and more, and was popular enough that Hacker News greeted its retirement with debate.
On September 3, 2026 Mullvad announced it will shut the servers down on November 2 and financially sponsor the Quad9 Foundation instead. "Running a privacy-focused public DNS service is a highly specialized undertaking, and the Quad9 Foundation is the undisputed leader in the field," the company said, adding that duplicating Quad9's work would only achieve part of what the nonprofit does.
The reasoning fits Mullvad's pattern of pruning side projects — last year it closed its Leta search proxy — and its existing partnership with the Tor Project on the Mullvad Browser. Subscribers see no change because VPN traffic already uses Mullvad's internal resolver; affected users are those who pointed browsers, operating systems or routers at Mullvad's public endpoints.
What has to be true
- A VPN provider's public DNS duplicates what a dedicated nonprofit does better; Mullvad kept the service because it existed, not because it was the best use of engineering hours.
- Operating a trusted resolver is a security liability: anycast infrastructure, blocklist updates and abuse response demand full-time attention that Mullvad wanted inside the VPN product.
- Sponsoring Quad9 preserves Mullvad's stated goal — encrypted, trustworthy DNS — while transferring the operational burden to an organization whose sole job is running it.
- The pattern was already established: Mullvad closes side services it cannot make best-in-class, as it did with the Leta search proxy in 2025.
- For subscribers the move is invisible, so the cost of retreating is low even if some non-VPN DNS users are disappointed.
What can be applied
A company's best move can be to stop doing something well-meaning: running a second-rate public DNS hurt Mullvad's focus, while the same money buys more privacy through a specialist nonprofit.
Aftermath
As of September 5, 2026 the shutdown is scheduled and migration is underway: Mullvad Browser users on default DoH settings switch automatically to Quad9, custom iOS and macOS profiles stop working at the deadline, and manual router or OS configurations must be repointed by November 2. Quad9 gains a prominent sponsor, and Mullvad keeps its engineering focused on the VPN.
Sources
- Mullvad VPN axes its public encrypted DNS service to sponsor Quad9 instead
- Mullvad VPN Drops Its Public DNS Service, Backs Quad9 With Cash Instead
- Shutting down our public encrypted DNS (HN thread)
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