- Mullvad is expected to retire the Leta search proxy on November 27, 2025.
- The move marks a shift in Mullvad’s privacy offerings
- Leta users are advised to pair Mullvad VPN with a privacy-focused browser
Mullvad’s Leta search proxy will be retired later this month, according to an announcement from the Sweden-based VPN provider.
Leta acted as a privacy-preserving intermediary between Mullvad VPN users and major search engines, allowing them to query Google and Brave without exposing IP addresses, cookies, or browser fingerprints.
The shutdown is expected to take place on November 27, 2025 and comes as search engines become increasingly hostile to proxy access, with Mullvad being the company behind one of the best VPN services available right now, admitting that Leta will likely become “less useful over time” as a result.
Why the closure and what else is changing at Mullvad
Mullvad cites “big changes” in the research sector as the main reason for Leta’s imminent departure.
Between strengthening anti-bot measures and expansion CAPTCHA and relying on real-time behavioral signals, modern search engines make it increasingly difficult for Mullvad to maintain an effective shared proxy.
On November 27, 2025, we will shut down our search proxy, Leta. To learn more, click here: https://t.co/4Bbni75TsdNovember 6, 2025
Maintaining a reliable and truly private research gateway under current conditions would require ongoing engineering efforts as well as frequent updates. Resources Mullvad would apparently prefer to allocate elsewhere, as evidenced by recent additions that include QUIC obfuscation for WireGuard.
Earlier this year, Mullvad also announced plans to drop support for OpenVPN starting January 16, 2026, in favor of the newer, lighter WireGuard protocol. This marks a strategic shift in Mullvad’s core VPN and privacy offerings.
The company explains that consolidating on the open source WireGuard protocol allows the team to “focus our resources where they can make a difference.” By retiring Leta, Mullvad plans to “continue to advance the development of cutting-edge VPNs and browser privacy.”
Alternatives for Mullvad Users Looking for Private Browsing
For users who relied on Leta, the immediate concern is finding a suitable replacement for private search. Fortunately, Mullvad still offers a suite of privacy-focused tools: Mullvad Browser included – all of this can help maintain the privacy standards Mullvad is known for.
Mullvad recommends using a virtual private network coupled with a privacy-focused browser. The most obvious option for existing subscribers is Mullvad Browser, a Tor Browser derivative client that offers the same fingerprint uniformity, tracker blocking, and anti-fingerprinting protections, while routing traffic through a VPN instead of the Tor network.
Mullvad Browser can be bundled with any VPN, but Mullvad recommends using it with its own service for optimal protection. Because it doesn’t rely on Tor’s onion routing, Mullvad Browser enables faster page loads while maintaining strong privacy guarantees.
Mullvad browser alternatives include Brave or Firefox with enhanced settings. Combining one of these browsers with a quality VPN hides your IP address from search providers, encrypts DNS queries, and blocks third-party trackers, achieving a level of anonymity comparable to Leta.
