Mozilla’s Testing a New VPN That Lives Solely Inside Firefox

Virtual private networks are everywhere these days. Some are good, necessary, and worth your hard-earned gold coins. Others, especially a lot of the free ones out there, are scammy piles of steaming cat feces.

The Mozilla Foundation, maker of the Firefox browser, is debuting a free VPN built right into Firefox. Right now it’s in beta testing, but Mozilla’s credentials when it comes to security and ethics are quite good, and so this project has all my interest.

free, and in-browser only

For those who could’ve sworn that Mozilla already had a VPN, Mozilla VPN, for the past five years, you’re not wrong.

As Mozilla itself took pains to point out, “One last thing: Firefox VPN is not Mozilla VPN: Mozilla VPN remains our full-device, paid subscription product that can cover up to 5 devices at the same time. Firefox VPN is different: it’s a free, browser-only feature inside Firefox.

This is where I’d normally say something like, “And here’s how you can get yourself into the beta to test it out early,” but there’s no jumping the line this time. Mozilla chooses; you wait.

You can only stand there, wait, and hope that Mozilla picks you, like a wallflower at the middle school dance. First things first: create a Mozilla account if you don’t already have one. They can’t offer you early access if you’re just a random, anonymous ghost using their product.

Once you’re logged into your account and using Firefox, be on the lookout for a prompt to pop up in Firefox’s toolbar. Click it and accept.

“We’ll start simple, then gradually add new capabilities while learning how it impacts browsing, usage, and overall satisfaction,” said Mozilla back in June 2025 when it first began teasing the public with news of Firefox VPN.

While appropriately vague enough to allow Mozilla some room to maneuver and not over-promise, it means we’ll just have to wait and see how Mozilla VPN goes, and whether it can stand up to my current favorite free VPN, Proton VPN.