UPDATE: Mozilla VPN in now available on Android, iOS, and Windows in the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia. Support for Mac and Linux is "coming soon."
Original Story 6/18:
Mozilla’s VPN service is exiting beta and will soon be available for $4.99 per month.
The company has been testing its VPN service under the “Firefox Private Network” name since last year. Now Mozilla is confident the privacy-enhancing product is ready for mainstream use.
“The VPN will exit Beta phase in the next few weeks, move out of the Firefox Private Network brand, and become a standalone product, Mozilla VPN, to serve a larger audience,” the company wrote in a Thursday blog post.
The upcoming product is separate from a VPN browser extension Mozilla offers via the Firefox browser. The extension, although free, only encrypts your internet connection through the browser—not other applications running on the device. Protection is also capped to 12 hours per month. (However, an upcoming beta will offer unlimited connections at $2.99 a month.)
The standalone Mozilla VPN product, on the other hand, offers full encryption with no time limit. It also functions as an app you can download to your Android or iOS device, Windows PC, and Chromebook. When you want the VPN protection, simply turn the app on, and it’ll begin encrypting your device connections to the internet. Subscribers will get access to servers from over 30 countries and VPN protection for up to five devices at a time.
(Credit: Mozilla)
The VPN service does not yet support macOS or Linux devices and is exclusive to the US. But the company is promising to roll it out to select regions later this year. In the meantime, Mozilla created a waitlist to notify users outside the US about availability in their region.
Mozilla VPN is powered by servers from Mullvad, a well-regarded VPN provider. According to Mozilla, the VPN service never keeps logs of any kind. Mullvad's servers also use the new Wireguard protocol to offer faster traffic speeds over traditional VPN protocols.
However, the privacy policy in its current form says subscribers must create a Firefox account to subscribe to the VPN. "Firefox sends Mozilla data about your device, operating system, version, and a unique identifier that Mozilla connects to your Firefox Account and receives data about when you install Firefox Private Network, when you use the service, and engage with our surveys and Firefox," the policy says.
Mozilla is offering the service as it pivots to paid subscription products to boost its revenue. However, the company is entering a crowded market; some rival VPNs offer yearly VPN subscription deals at lower prices. Still, the Mozilla brand is well-known, which may help its VPN product stand out from the competition. “Although there are a lot of VPNs out there, we felt like you deserve a VPN with the Mozilla name behind it,” the company wrote in today’s blog post.
Further Reading
- What Is a VPN, and Why You Need One
- Hong Kong Internet Users Flock to VPNs as China Prepares New Security Law
- Here's What PC Gamers Have to Say About VPNs
- Malwarebytes Enters VPN Market Using WireGuard Protocol
- More in VPN