Harry's News & Views

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VPN

I have been a happy customer of the Swedish VPN company, Mullvad, for two years. However, today was my last day of my contract, and I chose to go with a competitor. I know a few of my readers are in the technology/product space, and you may be interested/frustrated to hear why a user could simultaneously like your offering and still leave. Here’s three reasons why I did, perhaps they apply to you:

  1. Underperform in instances that matter: one of the most crucial features of a VPN is that they’re undetectable. With Mullvad, I never had any issues, apart for with one app – ChatGPT. Everytime I wanted to use it on my phone (it was fine on laptop), I had to disconnect. Since I use ChatGPT all the time, this was an instance that mattered, and made the other 99% of successful instances immaterial.
  2. Overperform in instances that don’t matter: Mullvad prides itself on a number of features which I frankly don’t care about. Their ultra high levels of security, such as crypto payments and zero trust logins, are critical if you’re living in an authoritarian regime and need anonymity. I don’t, so crowing on about these features is only ever going to be a cherry on top. It’s not something I would pay extra for, which leads me to point three:
  3. Price: I respect Mullvad’s pricing model, €5 a month. Doesn’t matter if you buy 1 month or 1 years worth, or buy it today or Black Friday. The price is the price. Respect is one thing, but when other companies offer massive discounts to new users willing to take on long contracts, you’ll always get some churn.

I have gone with SurfShark, which for a few dollars more than 12 months with Mullvad has given me 2.5 years. It works perfectly with ChatGPT, and I don’t care if they made me login with an email when signing up. In the past few hours I have been using it, I’ve been happy with my choice.

For those who are considering a VPN, my referral link is HERE. Alternatively SurfShark offers unlimited devices, so if you’d like access to it, gratis, please let me know. Consider it a subscriber bonus.