Mozilla Adds Free Built-In VPN to Firefox With 50GB Monthly Cap, Limited Country Rollout
Mozilla has begun rolling out a free, built-in VPN feature inside Firefox that masks users’ IP addresses and routes browser traffic through a secure proxy server — no separate software or paid subscription required.
The feature launched with Firefox 149 and carries a 50GB monthly data allowance. It works only inside the Firefox browser, leaving traffic from other apps on the same device unaffected.
What It Is — and What It Isn’t
Mozilla’s built-in browser VPN differs sharply from the company’s standalone Mozilla VPN product, which encrypts traffic across an entire device and requires a paid subscription.
The browser-level tool requires a free Mozilla account and targets users who want a lightweight privacy option without committing to a full VPN service.
Still, confusion between the two products has spread widely since Mozilla announced the feature, with many users mistakenly treating them as the same offering.
Where It’s Available
Mozilla is conducting a staged rollout across 26 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, and 20 others spanning Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
The full list includes Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Even users inside those markets may not see the feature immediately, as Mozilla is introducing access in phases rather than all at once.
How to Enable It
Users must run Firefox 149 or newer. Mozilla says eligible users will find a VPN icon in the top-right section of the Firefox toolbar.
Clicking that icon opens the setup panel, where users sign in with a Mozilla account and select “Turn on VPN.” Firefox then routes traffic through the most suitable available server automatically.
Manually selectable server locations currently include Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Mozilla said it plans to add more locations in coming months.
The 50GB Cap
The free tier provides 50GB of data per month, resetting at the start of each calendar month. Firefox notifies users as they approach the limit.
Once the allowance runs out, VPN protection pauses and browsing continues without it until the monthly counter resets. Mozilla directs heavy users toward its paid Mozilla VPN service for unlimited data.
Users can also exclude specific websites from VPN routing through Firefox’s Privacy & Security settings, which is useful for region-dependent services or Sites That behave incorrectly through a proxy.
Why Many Users Can’t Find It
Several factors can prevent the VPN Option From appearing even on eligible devices.
Mozilla’s rollout relies partly on Firefox’s built-in experimentation system. Users who have disabled the “Allow Firefox to improve features, performance, and stability between updates” setting under Data Collection and Use may not receive the feature.
some users are intentionally placed in a holdback study — labeled “VPN – MVP Beta Holdback” in the browser’s about:studies page — which blocks access during testing.
On managed or workplace devices, an enterprise policy called IPProtectionAvailable, visible at about:policies, can suppress the feature entirely.
Mozilla also notes that users who customized their Firefox toolbar and removed the VPN icon can restore it through the toolbar’s right-click customization menu.
Signing out of a Mozilla account and signing back in, with Firefox Sync enabled, can also resolve access problems in otherwise eligible setups.
Privacy and Performance
Mozilla said the built-in VPN collects technical data such as connection success rates and data usage volumes, but does not log the websites users visit or the content of their communications.
On performance, Mozilla said browsing remains normal with the VPN active. Speed can vary depending on server load and geographic distance from the selected server location.
Mozilla has not announced a timeline for expanding the rollout to additional countries beyond the current 26.
