Mullvad VPN: privacy is a universal right vs URLCheck
Side-by-side comparison of two open source alternatives
Mullvad VPN: privacy is a universal right
Free the internet from data collection with Mullvad VPN – a service that helps keep your online activity, identity, and location private. Only €5/month. Get started 1. Install the app. 2. Create an account. 3. Add time to your account via our website or vouchers. To make sure to block third-party cookies and other tracking technologies – use Mullvad VPN together with Mullvad Browser (free of charge). ANONYMOUS ACCOUNTS – NO ACTIVITY LOGS • Creating an account requires no personal info - not even an email address. • We keep no activity logs. • We offer the possibility to pay anonymously with cash or cryptocurrency. • Bypass geographical restrictions with our global network of VPN servers. • Our app uses WireGuard, a superior VPN protocol that connects fast and doesn’t drain your battery. HOW DOES MULLVAD VPN WORK? With Mullvad VPN, your traffic travels through an encrypted tunnel to one of our VPN servers and then onward to the website you are visiting. In this way, websites will only see our server’s identity instead of yours. Same goes for your ISP (internet service provider); they’ll see that you’re connected to Mullvad, but not your activity. It also means that all the third-party actors with technology integrated into the various websites you visit can’t sniff out your IP address and use it to track you from one site to another. Using a trustworthy VPN is a great first step to reclaim your privacy online. In combination with Mullvad Browser you make sure to block third-party cookies and other tracking technologies. FREE THE INTERNET FROM MASS SURVEILLANCE AND DATA COLLECTION A free and open society is a society where people have the right to privacy. That’s why we fight for a free internet. Free from mass surveillance and censorship. Free from big data markets where your personal information is up for sale. Free from authorities mass monitoring every click you make. Free from an infrastructure mapping your whole life. Mullvad VPN and Mullvad Browser is our contribution to the fight. TELEMETRY AND CRASH REPORTS The app collects a very minimal amount of telemetry, and it does not in any way tie it to an account number, IP or other identifiable information. Account numbers are used for authentication. App logs are never sent automatically but are rather explicitly sent by the user. App version checks are performed every 24 hours to tell the app if there are any upgrades available and if the currently running version is still supported. If the split tunneling feature is used, then the app queries your system for a list of all installed applications. This list is only retrieved in the split tunneling view. The list of installed applications is never sent from the device.
URLCheck
This application acts as an intermediary when opening url links. When you do so, a window containing information about the url is displayed, allowing you to make changes to it as well. Specially useful when you need to open an external link either from an email, a social network app or others. URLCheck is developed by TrianguloY, originally for personal use. It is open source (under CC BY 4.0 license), free, without any ads or trackers, light sized and using as few permissions as necessary (only the internet permission, for module checks that will only be performed when the user request them). The source code is available on GitHub too, if you want to suggest changes, perform modifications or propose a new translation: https://github.com/TrianguloY/URLCheck The app is structured with a modular setup, you can enable/disable and reorder individual modules, which include: * Input text: Displays the current url which can be edited manually. Can't be disabled. * History: View and revert any change from other modules, including edits from the user (typical undo/redo feature) * Log: Keeps a log of all checked urls, which you can view, edit, copy, clear... * Status code: By pressing the button a network request will be made to retrieve that url, and the status code will be displayed (ok, server error, not found...). Additionally, if it corresponds to a redirection, press the message to check the new url. The url is fetched, but not evaluated, so redirection based on javascript won't be detected. * Url Scanner: Allows you to scan the url using VirusTotal, and check the report. A free personal VirusTotal API key is needed for it to work. VirusTotal™ is a trademark of Google, Inc. * Url Cleaner: Uses the ClearURLs catalog to remove referral and useless parameters from the url. It also allows for common offline url redirections. Built-in catalog from https://docs.clearurls.xyz/latest/specs/rules/ * Unshortener: Uses https://unshorten.me/ to unshorten urls remotely. * Queries remover: Displays the decoded individual url queries, which you can remove or check. * Pattern module: Checks the url with regex patterns that warns, suggests or applies replacements. You can modify or create your own patterns, or even use user-created ones. Built-in patterns include: - Warning when contains non-ascii characters like greek letters. This can be used for phishing: googĺe.com vs google.com - Suggest replacing 'http' with 'https' - Suggest replacing Youtube, Reddit or Twitter with privacy-friendly alternatives [disabled by default] * Hosts checker: This module labels hosts, configured either by specifying them manually or by using a remote hosts-like file. You can use it to warn about dangerous or special sites. The builtin configuration specifies StevenBlack's hosts (adware/malware, fakenews, gambling and adult content) from https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts * Debug module: Displays the intent uri, and optionally info about the ctabs (custom tabs) service. This is intended for developers. * Open module: Contains the open and share buttons. If a link can be opened with multiple apps, an arrow will be shown to let you choose. Can't be disabled.
| Feature | Mullvad VPN: privacy is a universal right | URLCheck |
|---|---|---|
| License | GPL-3.0-or-later | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Install sources | DirectF-DroidGitHub | F-DroidGitHubIzzyOnDroid |
| Categories | Password ManagerVPNProductivityMessagingBrowser | Password ManagerProductivityMessagingBrowser |
| Features | Ad-FreeOpen SourceNo Tracking | Ad-FreeOpen SourceNo Tracking |
| Platforms | Android | Android |
| Website | ||
| Source code |