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Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs Mullvad VPN

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
M

Mullvad VPN

Cybersecurity

Privacy-first VPN with one flat price and no email required to sign up

From
$5/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Earthly has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Earthly pricing model not published; requires sales contact; Mullvad VPN offers no free trial or free tier, unlike several consumer VPN competitors.
  • They diverge on capability: Earthly covers Policy as code, Mullvad VPN covers Flat single pricing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and Mullvad VPN actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and Mullvad VPN differ
AttributeEarthlyMullvad VPN
Starting priceFree$5/month
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websitesubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, CLIwindows, mac, linux, ios, android
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity
Founded20202009

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Earthly

  • Policy as code
  • Multi-stage enforcement
  • AI agent governance
  • Repository-wide policies
  • Incident response automation
  • Compliance management
  • Earthfiles build tool
  • Satellites

Only in Mullvad VPN

  • Flat single pricing
  • Account-number signup
  • Cash and crypto payments
  • WireGuard support
  • Independent audits

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Earthly

  • Enforcing engineering standards across AI and human developersnot Mullvad VPN
  • Automating incident response procedures across all repositoriesnot Mullvad VPN
  • Embedding compliance requirements into development workflowsnot Mullvad VPN
  • Standardizing build processes with Earthfilesnot Mullvad VPN

Mullvad VPN

  • Paying for a VPN anonymously with cash or cryptocurrencynot Earthly
  • Avoiding tiered upsells with a single flat-rate plannot Earthly
  • Signing up without providing an email addressnot Earthly
  • Verifying a provider's privacy claims via independent auditsnot Earthly

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Earthly

  • Pricing model not published; requires sales contact
  • Earthly Lunar is a recent launch (2025) with limited track record
  • Primarily GitHub-focused; limited integration with other platforms
  • No public documentation on pricing or feature tiers

Mullvad VPN

  • Offers no free trial or free tier, unlike several consumer VPN competitors.
  • Lacks a bundled tiered structure, so there is no cheaper limited plan for occasional users.
  • Server network and streaming-unblocking performance is smaller than large mainstream VPN providers.
  • No annual discount, meaning long-term subscribers pay the same monthly rate as short-term users.

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

Mullvad VPN

$5/month
  • Mullvad VPN$5/month
    • Flat rate regardless of subscription length
    • 5 simultaneous devices
    • No email required

Which should you pick?

Choose Earthly if

  • You need policy as code.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, CLI.
  • You also want multi-stage enforcement.
Earthly review

Choose Mullvad VPN if

  • You need flat single pricing.
  • You work on windows, mac, linux, ios, android.
  • You also want account-number signup.
Mullvad VPN review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or Mullvad VPN better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and Mullvad VPN at $5/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or Mullvad VPN?
Earthly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Earthly and $5/month for Mullvad VPN.
Does Earthly or Mullvad VPN run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, CLI. Mullvad VPN runs on windows, mac, linux, ios, android.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Yes. Earthly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Mullvad VPN starts at $5/month.
What is Earthly best used for?
Earthly is most often used for enforcing engineering standards across ai and human developers, automating incident response procedures across all repositories, embedding compliance requirements into development workflows, standardizing build processes with earthfiles. Of those, enforcing engineering standards across ai and human developers and automating incident response procedures across all repositories are not what Mullvad VPN is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that Mullvad VPN cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies. Mullvad VPN covers Flat single pricing, Account-number signup, Cash and crypto payments, WireGuard support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Earthly: What is the difference between Earthfiles and Earthly Lunar?

Earthfiles is an open-source build tool that reached 12,000 GitHub stars and is used by companies like NVIDIA, Intel, and Databricks. Earthly Lunar is a separate governance platform launched in 2025 for enforcing standards across development workflows.

Source
Earthly: How does Earthly Lunar enforce standards?

Lunar converts engineering standards, compliance requirements, and processes documented in AGENTS.md files, wikis, and incident postmortems into enforceable guardrails that apply consistently across repositories and development stages.

Source
Earthly: What is the pricing for Earthly Lunar?

Pricing is not published on the website. Interested customers should contact Earthly's sales team for current pricing and feature tiers.

Source
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