Mullvad will shut down its privacy-focused search proxy, Leta, on November 27, 2025
Mullvad has announced that it will shut down its Leta search proxy service on November 27, 2025. Leta was designed to protect user privacy by acting as an intermediary for search queries, pooling and caching requests on behalf of many users. This approach ensured that individual searches could not be easily traced back to a single user, offering an extra layer of anonymity for those concerned about online privacy.
Following the decision to discontinue Leta, Mullvad cited rapid changes in the search industry. The company explained that Leta will likely become less effective as search services evolve, which would reduce its overall usefulness for privacy-conscious users.
For those seeking comparable levels of privacy, Mullvad recommends combining a virtual private network (VPN) with a privacy-focused browser as an alternative solution. According to Mullvad, this approach can deliver similar privacy protections by masking user IP addresses and reducing tracking across the web.
Building on this shift, Mullvad has stated its intention to advance the development of VPN and browser privacy technologies. The company aims to continue this work through internal research and collaborative efforts with partners.
- Web Search Engine
- Free • Proprietary
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External links
- Shutting down our search proxy LetaMullvad VPN • Official source
Comments
Noooo, apart from the privacy focus, I like Leta because it is just one button to get other search results. It makes switching between Brave and Google results so easy. I doesn't give all the bloat from search engines. I just want see the website and not a bunch of video's on Youtube I don't ask for or 'other related searches'. I think I will now switch to Startpage and Mojeek but does someone know a real alternative for Leta?
4get is quite good if you want to switch search results easily. plus its very clean and has the same privacy factor as leta
I was surprised they made it free. Originally it was for paying members only.
Privacy services that don't rely on selling data or an endless pool of vc money have to be as efficient as possible with their resources, so while it's sad to see services shut down I think it's for the best that they optimize to avoid carrying the weight of services that don't contribute either to economic sustainability or to the privacy ecosystem by fulfilling their purpose effectively
While I'm still building a search engine alternative, only it's API is completed. For now, something like 4get would work as the project by itself works fine.
Sad to see this service shutting down
same but i'm not surprised, if i remember well he is too limited :
result few people use it and majority of people don't know what is a search engine and they search google in google to go in google website. (yes i saw it) so because starting a privacy search engine mostly limited, they should inform people
Their VPN was not necessary
Search engine space is becoming decently saturated. Startpage, Brave search, and others occupied a similar space. For those looking for even more control/privacy whoogle and searXNG are alternatives as well. Hopefully Mullvad can redirect the resources from Leta to its browser and VPN
DDG and Startpage depend on Bing/Google indexes. At least brave had their own index. I wouldn't mind a few more indexes.