Mullvad VPN
The most honest VPN on the internet, and in 2026 still the one this industry is measured against: numbered accounts, cash or Monero accepted, open-source client
court-proven no-logs audit open source crypto accepted
intro $5.71 /month
VPNs in Iran
illegal unless registered Freedom on the Net: 12/100
After Supreme Leader Khamenei's February 2024 order, the Supreme Council of Cyberspace's 2024 resolution (cl. 6) permits circumvention tools only with an official permit; unpermitted VPN use is prohibited under the Computer Crimes Law framework. Enforcement is technical (mass filtering, IPv6 blocked May 2024, ~2.7 GB international charge per 1 GB vs cheap intranet) plus a grey market the state taxed at an estimated US$1bn/year and now wants to shut down. Permitted VPNs have been documented enabling inspection of user data.
// What works there
VLESS/Xray (mainstream) · AmneziaWG · Shadowsocks · Psiphon · Tor with bridges (slow)
Honest advice: Assume every connection is inspected; use Xray/Reality-class tools, and treat any 'approved' VPN as a government tap.
// Providers built for censored networks
IVPN
The anti-affiliate champion candidate holds up: no affiliate program (stated out loud on the homepage), flat honest pricing, quarterly warrant canary, annual th
audited canary open source crypto accepted
intro $6 /month
Proton VPN
The most honest mainstream deal in 2026: open-source apps, real audits, a genuinely usable free tier with no data cap, and a transparent renewal model - and in
audited open source crypto accepted
intro $3.59 /month renews $9.99
VyprVPN
A genuinely interesting infrastructure story wrapped in a jurisdiction problem: Golden Frog built one of the few fully self-owned server networks and invented C
audited
intro $3 /month
AirVPN
Community-run Italian operator with the best power-user transparency stack in the business: fully open-source Eddie client (GPL-3.0), 258 bare-metal entry IPs a
open source crypto accepted
no free tier; paid 3-day trial (EUR 2)
NymVPN
The only consumer VPN with a real metadata-protection architecture - a 5-hop noise-generating Sphinx mixnet with cover traffic - and it costs just $4/mo on the
open source crypto accepted
intro $4 /month renews $8
// FAQ
Is using a VPN legal in Iran?
After Supreme Leader Khamenei's February 2024 order, the Supreme Council of Cyberspace's 2024 resolution (cl. 6) permits circumvention tools only with an official permit; unpermitted VPN use is prohibited under the Computer Crimes Law framework. Enforcement is technical (mass filtering, IPv6 blocked May 2024, ~2.7 GB international charge per 1 GB vs cheap intranet) plus a grey market the state taxed at an estimated US$1bn/year and now wants to shut down. Permitted VPNs have been documented enabling inspection of user data.
What actually works in Iran?
Per current research: VLESS/Xray (mainstream), AmneziaWG, Shadowsocks, Psiphon, Tor with bridges (slow). During crackdowns or sensitive periods, even working methods can be disrupted - have at least two options configured.
Which providers ship the needed obfuscation?
<a href="/provider/mullvad/">Mullvad VPN</a>, <a href="/provider/ivpn/">IVPN</a>, <a href="/provider/protonvpn/">Proton VPN</a>, <a href="/provider/vyprvpn/">VyprVPN</a>, <a href="/provider/airvpn/">AirVPN</a>, <a href="/provider/nymvpn/">NymVPN</a> document obfuscation features. Self-hosted AmneziaWG or VLESS/Reality on your own server is the strongest option.
last checked 2026-09-27 · information, not legal advice