Mullvad VPN boosts WireGuard speeds and stability with new Rust-based engine

The release comes just in time for its all-in shift to the protocol in 2026

22 Dec 2025, 13:53 · TechRadar

News By Rene Millman published 22 December 2025

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Mullvad has launched a new Rust-based WireGuard implementation
"GotaTun" replaces the older software to improve stability and speed
Mullvad is set to drop support for the OpenVPN protocol entirely on January 15, 2026

If you are looking for the best VPN for privacy, Mullvad has likely already crossed your radar. Known for its strict no-logging policy and anonymous signup process, the Swedish provider is now making significant changes under the hood to make its service faster and more reliable.

Mullvad has announced the release of "GotaTun," a new custom implementation of the WireGuard protocol written in the Rust programming language. While this might sound like a backend technicality, the real-world benefits for users are substantial: better performance, longer battery life on mobile, and significantly fewer app crashes.

The move marks a major shift away from the widely used "wireguard-go" software that has powered Mullvad’s apps (and many other VPNs) for years. By switching to its own Rust-based solution, Mullvad is not only future-proofing its service but also clearing the deck for a major transition in 2026: the complete retirement of the OpenVPN protocol.

Why 'GotaTun' changes the game

Until now, Mullvad’s mobile apps have relied on "wireguard-go" to handle connections. While functional, mixing this Go-based code with Mullvad’s primarily Rust-based app structure caused friction. In a recent blog post, the company revealed that "more than 85% of all crashes" reported on its Android app stemmed directly from this clash between programming languages.

That's where GotaTun enters. Forked from Cloudflare’s "BoringTun" project, GotaTun is a purpose-built library that integrates seamlessly with Mullvad's existing code.

The results of the switch have been immediate. Since rolling out GotaTun to Android users in late November 2025, Mullvad reports that the user-perceived crash rate dropped from 0.40% to a negligible 0.01%. "So far not a single crash has stemmed from GotaTun," the team noted, adding that users are already reporting "better speeds and lower battery usage."

Beyond stability, the switch to Rust allows for "memory safety" and "zero-copy memory strategies," technical terms that essentially translate to a faster, more secure, and efficient VPN experience that drains less power on your phone.

Mullvad's swicth to Rust echoes a similar move from ExpressVPN, which completely rebuilt its Lightway protocol in Rust at the beginning of the year.

Preparing for a WireGuard-only future

This technical overhaul is part of a broader strategy. Mullvad is currently in the process of phasing out the older OpenVPN protocol entirely to focus its resources on WireGuard.

The company has set a firm deadline: January 15, 2026. On this date, OpenVPN support will be removed from all servers and apps.

By consolidating its efforts into a single, modern protocol like WireGuard, and now owning its own implementation of it with GotaTun, Mullvad can iterate faster. The new engine already supports advanced privacy features like DAITA (which defends against traffic analysis attacks) and Multihop out of the box.

While GotaTun is currently live for Android users (version 2025.10 and newer), Mullvad plans to bring the new engine to desktop and iOS platforms throughout 2026. A third-party security audit of the new code is also scheduled for early next year, ensuring that the switch to Rust maintains the provider's high security standards.

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