Firefox will integrate a free VPN into the browser, but there is a hiccup

Mozilla has a knack for announcing good news exactly when it is needed most. In the midst of turbulent times with declining market share, financial dependence on Google and an integration of AI that caused an uproar in its own community, the foundation has just pulled out of its sleeve a free VPN integrated directly into the Firefox browser. The official blog post was titled “Even more reasons to love Firefox” (we are not inventing anything).

The service arrives with Firefox 149, the deployment of which is announced for March 24, 2026. For the moment, only four countries will have access to it: France, the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. The others will follow, promises Mozilla. The positive thing is that it will not require any additional installation, subscription, or fees. The VPN is activated from the browser and routes your browser traffic through a Mozilla proxy to hide your IP address.

50 GB per month, and after?

Each user has 50 GB of monthly data which are reset to zero at the start of the month. For daily navigation, it’s comfortable. For continuous video streaming or heavy downloads, it may get stuck quite quickly. But the most interesting detail is the one that Mozilla did not see fit to specify: what happens once the quota is exhausted? Dry break? Gradual slowdown?

There is also a technical limit often drowned out in the enthusiasm of the announcements: the protection only covers traffic generated in Firefox, unlike Mozilla VPN (which has never been successful) or even an extension of a real VPN for Firefox. In other words, a messaging application open in parallel, download software or an online game: all of this continues to pass through your real IP address, without any protection. It is therefore technically an encrypted proxy, not a VPN in the strict sense of the term.

Compared to NordVPN or Proton, the gap remains considerable

Established and serious VPNs play in another category: NordVPN covers 129 countries with more than 8,900 servers and protects all system traffic (including via your Firefox browser) and offers a Kill Switch with a no-log policy audited by Deloitte. Proton VPN was founded in Switzerland and publishes all of its code as open-source. Important point: these services cover all your devices, not just one browser tab.

Mozilla is aware of this and does not claim to be doing anything other than a flagship product which will be a gateway to Mozilla VPN which is its paid offer at €4.99/month in an annual plan. The strategy is honest: this VPN is above all an argument for retention for a user base that the foundation does not want to lose after complicated weeks.

For an internet user who has never used a VPN, this is a decent introduction to private browsing. For others, the asterisks accumulate (too) quickly.

🟣 To not miss any news on the WorldOfSoftware, follow us on Google and on our WhatsApp channel. And if you love us, .