Mullvad DNS vs Cloudflare DNS: Privacy Comparison
In this comprehensive privacy comparison, we analyze Mullvad DNS and Cloudflare DNS across six critical dimensions: data collection practices, encryption implementation, third-party data sharing, user privacy controls, transparency, and historical track record. Both services serve similar needs, but their approaches to user privacy differ significantly. Our analysis reveals that Mullvad DNS offers a meaningfully better privacy experience overall, though each service has relative strengths and weaknesses worth understanding in detail.
What the Numbers Say
Here is the result of weighing both services across the dimensions that decide real-world privacy. Across the six privacy dimensions we score, Mullvad DNS finishes ahead of Cloudflare DNS, 54/60 to 37/60. That total reflects a privacy face-off in which one service is consistently the more privacy-respecting choice, even though both cover the same functional ground.
The largest single-dimension gap is in Data Collection, where Mullvad DNS leads by 3 points -- Mullvad DNS 10/10 to Cloudflare DNS 7/10. The tightest race is Encryption, separated by just 2 points (Mullvad DNS 10/10, Cloudflare DNS 8/10). Keep reading to see exactly how the gap was earned, category by category.
What Gets Collected
The starting point for judging privacy is always how data is collected. The amount of user data a service captures, keeps, and works with is the single biggest factor behind its privacy exposure. Mullvad DNS shows more discipline on this front, collecting nothing beyond the bare minimum needed for the service to run. The competing option reaches for a much wider set of data, including behavioral patterns, device identifiers, and usage analytics that stretch beyond the essentials. In this category we rated Mullvad DNS 10/10 and Cloudflare DNS 7/10. The gap comes down to more than raw volume -- it is about the intent behind each piece of data and whether collecting it was ever justified.
Encryption Implementation
Encryption guards user data as it moves and while it sits at rest, and how well it is built differs enormously from one service to the next. Mullvad DNS puts tougher encryption in place, with sturdier protocols shielding data in transit and stronger safeguards for what is stored. The two implementations part ways on coverage (which data actually gets encrypted), on strength (which algorithms and key lengths back it up), and on whether end-to-end encryption is in play (which keeps even the provider from reading user content). For encryption, Mullvad DNS scored 10/10 while Cloudflare DNS scored 8/10.
Who Else Gets Your Data
One of the most important privacy questions is how freely a service passes data along to others. The list of recipients can run from advertising networks and analytics providers to business partners and government requests. Mullvad DNS draws firmer limits around third-party access to user data. Such practices matter for security and not only privacy, because each new entity with access is another door through which a breach could occur. Scores: Mullvad DNS 7/10, Cloudflare DNS 4/10.
Controls You Can Actually Use
Individuals only hold real power over their data when a service's privacy controls are available and genuinely effective. The relevant tools include the option to opt out of data collection, ways to download and erase data, granular permission settings, and how readily users can exercise the rights afforded them by applicable privacy regulations. Mullvad DNS offers more complete and approachable privacy controls. Scores: Mullvad DNS 8/10, Cloudflare DNS 5/10.
How Clearly They Explain Themselves
Transparency comes down to how plainly a service explains what it does with data. It shows up in how readable the privacy policy is, whether transparency reports are published, how quickly privacy questions get answered, and whether policy changes are communicated up front. Mullvad DNS comes across as the more transparent of the two overall. Plain, easy-to-find privacy communication is the bedrock of informed consent and trust. Scores: Mullvad DNS 9/10, Cloudflare DNS 6/10.
What Their History Reveals
The record of privacy incidents, regulatory run-ins, and how a service answers vulnerabilities offers context you cannot ignore. Mullvad DNS holds the stronger track record here, with a smaller count of incidents and a more responsible response to the problems that did surface. More often than not, what a service did in the past is the best guide to its future privacy conduct. Scores: Mullvad DNS 10/10, Cloudflare DNS 7/10.
The Final Verdict
Our comprehensive analysis gives Mullvad DNS a total score of 54/60 and Cloudflare DNS a total score of 37/60. The overall winner for privacy is Mullvad DNS. While both services serve similar functional needs, the winner demonstrates a more privacy-respecting approach across the dimensions that matter most. That said, no service is perfect, and users should always configure privacy settings actively regardless of which option they choose. We recommend supplementing your choice with additional privacy tools, a VPN, DNS-level ad blocker, and privacy-focused browser, to build a comprehensive privacy posture. If your threat model requires the strongest possible privacy, consider whether an even more privacy-focused alternative exists in this category beyond the two compared here.