Mullvad to Shut Down Public Encrypted DNS and Sponsor Quad9

Mullvad will shut down its public encrypted DNS servers on November 2, 2026, and redirect its resources toward financially sponsoring the Quad9 Foundation.

The company has operated public DNS over HTTPS (DoH) servers since 2022 as a free service for protecting DNS queries outside its VPN network. Mullvad said public DoH servers are unnecessary when using Mullvad VPN because subscriber traffic is already encrypted and handled through the provider’s internal DNS routing.

Mullvad described privacy-focused public DNS as a highly specialized service and said Quad9 Foundation is a leader in the field. The company said supporting Quad9 was preferable to duplicating its work.

Most Mullvad VPN subscribers should not notice a change. Users who depend on Mullvad’s public DNS while disconnected from the VPN will need to migrate. In Mullvad Browser, default DoH settings and the included ad-blocking variant will automatically switch to Quad9. Users who selected the base, extended, or family Mullvad variants must return to the default setting.

Existing iOS and macOS Mullvad DoH configuration profiles will stop working after the shutdown and must be replaced with dedicated Quad9 profiles. Users who configured Mullvad DoH manually on a router or operating system will need to enter Quad9 addresses, following Quad9’s configuration guides.