Tor and Mullvad Browser Partnership Continues: Branding Paused, Funding Questions Remain

What Tor announced​

In a statement dated October 9, 2026, Tor said it is not terminating the relationship but is setting clear boundaries. It said the decision followed due diligence: discussions with community members, staff and the board, a staff survey, and financial analysis and scenario planning. Tor did not publish that analysis. It did not describe the scenarios or put a number on what ending the work would cost.

Two things stand out in the statement:

• Technical collaboration continues. Tor has paused proactive co-branding with Mullvad. That includes joint promotional activity, while development goes on under what Tor called a narrowly scoped agreement.
• Tor's own wording has changed. Tor reviewed how Mullvad Browser is described and endorsed on its own channels. It revised wording that implied broader shared values. Tor's stated aim is to avoid any impression that it endorses Mullvad's leadership.

The "pause" is not a ban on mentioning Mullvad or Mullvad Browser. Tor has not published a detailed list of what is allowed and what isn't.

The donation behind the row​

Tor's statement does not name the donor or the party. That detail comes from separate reporting. The Swedish outlet Flamman reported on June 26, 2026, that Mullvad co-founder and co-owner Daniel Berntsson gave 5 million Swedish kronor to the Örebro Party in 2025. TechRadar's earlier coverage converted that to roughly $514,000 and said the gift made up 72% of the party's 2025 income. Flamman quoted Berntsson calling it a personal donation. Flamman and TechRadar both describe the party as populist. Flamman also quotes it advocating mass "remigration" from Sweden.

Mullvad's response, as reported:

• The company's position. Mullvad said the donation was a private matter and not part of its mission.
• The co-CEO. Fredrik Strömberg told TechRadar that he personally disliked the donation. He said Mullvad VPN AB, its parent Amagicom AB and sister company Tillitis AB played no role in it. That is the co-CEO's account, not independent verification of any corporate separation.

Why a PC user should care​

Mullvad Browser is not a side project. It is a browser built by the Tor Project team and distributed by Mullvad. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. Tor says the collaboration has had concrete engineering effects:

• It has improved the structure, maintainability and auditability of Tor Browser's codebase.
• It has widened feedback from people outside Tor Browser's core audience.
• It has created a lower-risk place to test features that may later reach Tor Browser.

These are Tor's own assessments, not independently measured results. They do match what Tor said at launch. At the time it said the joint project let it address legacy issues and fix vulnerabilities for Tor Browser. The 2023 year-in-review credited the partnership with room to try experimental features on Mullvad Browser's alpha channel without loosening Tor Browser's stricter anonymity standards.

The two browsers are not the same​

Tor's support FAQ says the main difference is how each connects to the internet: Tor Browser uses the Tor network, and Mullvad Browser is meant to be paired with a trusted VPN. Mullvad Browser lacks several Tor-specific features:

• Circuit isolation and "new identity" integration.
• Access to onion services, including SecureDrop integration.
• Built-in censorship circumvention through Tor Browser's connection settings and Connection Assist.

Mullvad Browser can also be used without a VPN, but Tor's FAQ says you should then be sure you trust whichever VPN provider you use. Mullvad Browser also does not give you Tor's network-level anonymity. People who need that should not treat the two as interchangeable.

Open questions: money​

The most important unresolved point is funding. Tor's FAQ describes Mullvad as a long-time funder and a "Shallot Level" member of its membership program. The October statement opens by saying the concerns raised questions about the funding relationship. It then speaks mainly about technical collaboration and branding. It does not say whether any Mullvad funding is being accepted, kept or returned.

My research notes refer to an earlier Tor forum post, dated August 5, 2026. It reportedly quotes a Tor subgroup rejecting future Mullvad funding and returning unused 2026 funds. I could not retrieve that post, so treat it as unconfirmed. Even if accurate, it concerned a subgroup, and the October statement does not clarify how it relates to the organization-wide position. So I won't say Tor has cut all financial ties, or that it has reversed any funding decision.

Two readings of the decision​

Tor's critics have a fair point. Even a narrow deal with a company whose co-founder funds a party like this has a "cost to trust," which Tor itself acknowledges. Some community discussion, for example on Hacker News, raised the worry that a Tor project becoming dependent on one outside backer could create pressure. That is commenter opinion, not evidence of anything actually happening.

The defenders' case is pragmatic. The statement stresses that Mullvad Browser gives more people access to online privacy through a free, open-source tool. Tor also argues that privacy and anti-censorship work is severely under-resourced. Walking away from a working engineering partnership would not obviously help the communities Tor serves.

There is also a structural point. The decision splits a relationship into three parts: engineering, marketing and money. Tor has dropped the marketing and kept the engineering. On the money, the public record is unclear. Whether that split satisfies anyone depends on how much you think "implied endorsement" matters compared with shipped code.

What you need to do​

Nothing, based on what Tor has announced. It has not announced:

• A shutdown of Mullvad Browser.
• Changes to its features.
• Changes to Tor Browser's release process.
• Migration steps or dates for any product change.

If you use either browser on Windows, keep updating as usual. If the politics change your view of Mullvad as a vendor, that is a values decision. Tor's FAQ and Mullvad's own stated policy don't point to any technical reason to switch. Mullvad has said it would refund customers who cancel over philosophical disagreement.

Bottom line​

Tor chose a compromise. It keeps the code collaboration, pulls back the joint promotion and rewrites its own descriptions. It has not explained what that means for funding. For Windows users the software stays the same. What is still in question is how a privacy nonprofit stays independent while its tools depend on partners it cannot fully control.