Mozilla VPN review: An easy-to-use VPN with Firefox compatibility

Worth When Reviewed

$9.99

Finest Costs Right this moment: Mozilla VPN

Mozilla VPN briefly:

• P2P allowed: Sure
• Limitless system connections: No, 5 simultaneous system connections
• Enterprise location: California
• Variety of servers: 500+
• Variety of nation areas: 30+
• Value: $9.99 per 30 days, or $59.88 for a yr

Mozilla is without doubt one of the prime gamers within the browser sport together with Chrome and Safari. So when such an enormous title within the trade comes out with its personal VPN, folks take discover. What started as a Firefox browser extension greater than 5 years in the past has grown into a totally standalone software.

Within the ensuing years, Mozilla has added help for extra providers equivalent to MacOS and Linux, in addition to boosting its server community and present process a number of impartial safety audits. So how does this web browser big’s VPN stack up towards longtime gamers equivalent to ExpressVPN and NordVPN? I put it to the check to seek out out. 

Additional studying: See our roundup of the perfect VPNs to find out about competing merchandise.

What are Mozilla VPN’s options and providers?

For the reason that launch of the service, Mozilla VPN has grown considerably. It now consists of most of the similar options as different prime VPN providers. Let’s have a look at what you’ll get to your cash.

Mozilla VPN affords as much as 5 simultaneous system connections. That isn’t dangerous, however the development is in direction of eradicating these limitations, and lots of different providers equivalent to Surfshark, TunnelBear, and Personal Web Entry are already providing limitless connections.

Sam Singleton

While you first open the applying you’re instantly confronted with a swap within the center to activate the VPN, a Choose location possibility, and some different settings options on the backside. The entire design and format of the app is extremely clear and effectively thought out. Even the wording above the swap “Activate to guard your privateness” is a pleasant contact that’s positive to make sense to even probably the most novice of customers.

While you select Choose location, a drop-down menu will seem with all the obtainable server areas listed. You possibly can select to kind them by Really useful or All. As an entire, Mozilla VPN’s server community is sadly moderately small in comparison with different providers. At over 500 servers you’ll have choices to select from, however the truth that it solely affords round 40 nation areas is disappointing. That is an space that can hopefully be improved upon sooner or later.

The Mozilla VPN’s community is definitely piggy-backing off of Mullvad VPN’s community. There isn’t a variety of commercial for this, and in reality the one place it turns into obvious is if you examine the server standing on the web site — it really hyperlinks to the Mullvad server standing net web page as an alternative.

Sam Singleton

Below the server listing you’ll additionally discover the choice to change to multi-hop connection. I used to be genuinely shocked that Mozilla VPN affords multi-hop. It’s a extremely nifty function that not a variety of VPNs presently provide. With multi-hop you may decide your entry and exit server areas thereby permitting your site visitors to be rerouted via greater than only one VPN server. This additional obfuscates your true IP location and makes your connection extra non-public.

You possibly can navigate to the settings menu by clicking the ever-present gear icon on the backside of the web page. Right here you’ll be capable of activate ad-, tracker-, and malware-blocking underneath the Privateness options tab. These are all generally included with most different VPNs these days, however nonetheless good to have.

Sam Singleton

Mozilla VPN affords a split-tunneling function, nevertheless it’s not labeled as such. As a substitute it’s nestled underneath App exclusions. Right here you may decide and select which explicit apps you want to be excluded from working via a VPN and moderately simply use your common web connection. This may be helpful if you wish to stay nameless whereas looking, however want your full web pace whereas gaming.

The service additionally affords a kill swap that can droop web site visitors ought to your VPN connection drop for any surprising purpose. This function was deemed so vital by Mozilla that the app doesn’t permit you to flip it off. This can be a bit distinctive from different providers which let you manually activate or off the kill swap function. From a privateness and safety perspective I don’t thoughts this, however I see a case for having the choice to vary it. After I examined this function it labored with out a hitch.

Firefox customers may also discover that the VPN integrates to a point with Mozilla’s browser. One of the best function right here is help for Multi-Account Containers. This lets you join completely different Firefox tabs to separate VPN servers. With this function you not want to vary servers do you have to want to use completely different areas for various web sites. It’s a quality-of-life function that feels a bit area of interest, however I’m positive Firefox energy customers will respect it.

How is Mozilla VPN’s efficiency?

To check Mozilla VPN’s speeds I rated connection speeds throughout its servers in six completely different nations all over the world after which in contrast them to my baseline web pace. Mozilla VPN’s speeds had been fairly common with the obtain speeds at 38 p.c and add speeds at 47 p.c of base speeds. 

That’s nowhere close to our quickest VPNs equivalent to Hotspot Defend, ExpressVPN, and NordVPN. All of those reached speeds upwards of 60 p.c or extra of baseline throughout our testing. Nonetheless, in the event you’re simply in search of a VPN to maintain you protected throughout informal looking or streaming, Mozilla VPN ought to be simply high quality.

One notable perk with Mozilla VPN is that the precise connection time to a server is lightning quick. Typically VPNs can take a couple of moments to attach between servers, however Mozilla VPN was close to instantaneous. It’s a moderately trivial factor for most individuals, however mixed with the Multi-Account Containers function, customers who want to vary servers incessantly will discover it a pleasant quality-of-life fringe profit.

In the case of unblocking streaming content material, nonetheless, very like my childhood aspirations to play within the MLB, Mozilla VPN falls flat on its face. The service wasn’t capable of entry any of the main streaming providers equivalent to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, or Hulu in any nation that I examined. This simply goes to point out that Mozilla VPN is extra centered on person safety and privateness than accessing geo-restricted content material.

How is Mozilla VPN’s safety and privateness?

Mozilla

Mozilla VPN comes with the trade customary AES-256 bit encryption and solely permits connections to be finished over the WireGuard protocol. The reasoning behind this isn’t unsound as WireGuard is without doubt one of the newer protocols and affords wonderful pace and safety. However those that want to tweak and customise their connections will really feel slightly exhausting finished by.

That being mentioned, the corporate did rating effectively on our privateness checks. When checking for DNS leaks, the service got here away with good marks, displaying no leaks from any of our check websites.

As well as, the corporate’s privateness coverage clearly states that it doesn’t retailer any on-line person exercise logs. It does gather some knowledge although, equivalent to your IP tackle if you first register for the service in addition to your working system and {hardware} configuration. It doesn’t, nonetheless, gather knowledge on site visitors, subsequent IP addresses, bandwidth utilization, session instances, or DNS requests. 

To again up these claims, Mozilla VPN has undergone two separate impartial safety audits by third-party cybersecurity agency Cure53. The primary audit was finished in 2021 and the most recent audit was accomplished in December of final yr. The agency recognized a couple of vulnerabilities, however Mozilla VPN was fast to deal with the problems and repair them.

Very similar to Mullvad VPN, the service that underpins it, Mozilla VPN has robust total privateness credentials. That’s to be anticipated although from an organization like Mozilla who prioritizes a free and open web. Privateness is certainly considered one of Mozilla VPN’s robust fits and relying on what you worth in your VPN, could also be a deciding issue. 

Is Mozilla VPN value it?

Is Mozilla VPN the perfect VPN I’ve ever used? In a nutshell, no. It lacks the widespread server community of different VPNs and there are some severe unblocking points. That being mentioned, followers of Mozilla and its free web beliefs will discover that there’s sufficient right here to fulfill them. 

The app is extraordinarily simple to make use of and approachable for novices and the event group appears to be working exhausting to implement extra options to attraction to energy customers. It additionally makes all the proper privateness guarantees. Nonetheless, in its present state, Mozilla VPN has some excellent points and its value is nearly double that of Mullvad, the service it’s constructed round.

Editor’s be aware: As a result of on-line providers are sometimes iterative, gaining new options and efficiency enhancements over time, this assessment is topic to vary with a view to precisely mirror the present state of the service. Any adjustments to textual content or our ultimate assessment verdict will likely be famous on the prime of this text.