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Cybersecurity · head to head

Mullvad VPN vs Neon

Mullvad VPN logo

Mullvad VPN

Cybersecurity

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

From
$5/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Neon logo

Neon

Cloud

Serverless Postgres for modern developers

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Neon has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Mullvad VPN offers no free trial or free tier, unlike several consumer VPN competitors.; Neon compute pricing at $0.106-$0.222/CU-hour means costs scale directly with workload, unlike fixed-price alternatives
  • They diverge on capability: Mullvad VPN covers Flat single pricing, Neon covers Serverless PostgreSQL.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Mullvad VPN and Neon differ
AttributeMullvad VPNNeon
Starting price$5/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionUnknown
Free tierNoYes
Platformswindows, mac, linux, ios, androidCloud
CategoryCybersecurityCloud
Founded20092021

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 Mullvad VPN

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

Only in Neon

  • Serverless PostgreSQL
  • Database Branching
  • Autoscaling
  • Bottomless Storage
  • Point-in-time Recovery
  • Connection Pooling
  • Read Replicas
  • Instant Cloning

What people use each for

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

Mullvad VPN

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

Neon

  • Serverless applicationsnot Mullvad VPN
  • Development databasesnot Mullvad VPN
  • Preview environmentsnot Mullvad VPN
  • Testingnot Mullvad VPN

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Neon

  • Compute pricing at $0.106-$0.222/CU-hour means costs scale directly with workload, unlike fixed-price alternatives
  • Separation of compute and storage may add complexity to cost prediction compared to all-in-one plans

Pricing, plan by plan

Mullvad VPN

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

Neon

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 100 CU-hours/month
    • 0.5 GB storage
    • 1 project
  • Launch$15/month
    • Pay-as-you-go compute
    • $0.35/GB storage
    • Multiple projects
  • Scale$31/month
    • Higher compute rates
    • 99.95% SLA
    • HIPAA compliance

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Neon if

  • You need serverless postgresql.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud.
  • You also want database branching.
Neon review

Questions people ask

Is Mullvad VPN or Neon better?
Neither clearly leads. Mullvad VPN starts at $5/month and Neon at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Mullvad VPN or Neon?
Neon has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $5/month for Mullvad VPN and Free for Neon.
Does Mullvad VPN or Neon run on more platforms?
Mullvad VPN runs on windows, mac, linux, ios, android. Neon runs on Cloud.
Can I use Neon for free?
Yes. Neon has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Mullvad VPN starts at $5/month.
What is Mullvad VPN best used for?
Mullvad VPN is most often used for paying for a vpn anonymously with cash or cryptocurrency, avoiding tiered upsells with a single flat-rate plan, signing up without providing an email address, verifying a provider's privacy claims via independent audits. Of those, paying for a vpn anonymously with cash or cryptocurrency and avoiding tiered upsells with a single flat-rate plan are not what Neon is typically brought in for.
What can Mullvad VPN do that Neon cannot?
Mullvad VPN covers Flat single pricing, Account-number signup, Cash and crypto payments, WireGuard support. Neon covers Serverless PostgreSQL, Database Branching, Autoscaling, Bottomless Storage.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Neon: What is Neon and what makes it different?

Neon is a serverless PostgreSQL database that separates compute and storage, enabling automatic scaling and instant database branching. After acquisition by Databricks in May 2025, pricing has been significantly reduced.

Source
Neon: Does Neon offer a free tier?

Yes, Neon's free tier includes 100 compute units per month and 0.5 GB of storage. This is suitable for development and small projects.

Source
Neon: What are the paid plans and pricing for Neon?

Neon offers consumption-based pricing on Launch ($0.106/CU-hour, approximately $15/month) and Scale ($0.222/CU-hour, approximately $31/month) plans with separate storage billing at $0.35/GB-month. No monthly minimum required.

Source
Neon: What features does Neon provide?

Neon includes git-like branching for database copies, point-in-time recovery, data anonymization for testing, managed authentication, serverless functions, and object storage that branches with projects.

Source
Neon: What compliance and reliability guarantees does Neon provide?

Neon's Scale tier offers 99.95% uptime SLA, HIPAA compliance, SOC2 certification, and private networking via PrivateLink at no extra cost.

Source
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