Mozilla VPN Review: Is It Worth Your Time?
Mozilla VPN is one of the most respected & trustworthy VPNs even in 2023 when security & privacy have become a huge concern for many individuals, big corporate companies, and government organizations.
This VPN stands out among all the premium VPNs not only due to the utmost privacy they provide to their customers, it’s because of the services they offer with their ultimate virtual private network servers.
Mozilla VPN is a virtual private network (VPN) service offered by Mozilla, the company behind the popular Firefox web browser where the VPN allows you to securely access the internet and evade surveillance and censorship.
Do you know that Mozilla launched its VPN service in July 2020, touting it as a trustworthy service that respects user privacy, but how good is Mozilla VPN really?
Does it live up to its promises? Let’s take an in-depth look at the features, performance, applications, pricing, and support of Mozilla VPN.
Overview of Mozilla VPN
Mozilla VPN is designed to be an easy-to-use and hassle-free VPN service with the main goals of the service being to provide online privacy and help circumvent internet censorship.
Some key features of Mozilla VPN include:
- Encrypted connections to mask your online activity and prevent tracking
- Servers located in over 30 countries to bypass geographic restrictions
- Strict no logging policy to prevent user data collection
- Apps for major platforms like Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android
- Unlimited bandwidth with no throttling
The service is powered by Mullvad, a Swedish VPN provider known for its security and privacy stance where Mozilla handles the front-end and branding while Mullvad operates the VPN servers and infrastructure.
Mozilla VPN costs $4.99 per month and offers unlimited connected devices as there are no long-term contracts so you can cancel anytime.
Privacy and Security Features
One of the main selling points of Mozilla VPN is its commitment to protecting user privacy with a trusted reputation when it comes to privacy, so many users feel comfortable trusting them with their browsing data.
Some of the key privacy protections include:
No Logging Policy
Mozilla VPN promises to never log any user activity while connected to the VPN which includes sites visited, downloads, browsing history, and other personal usage data, and without logs, they cannot share any user data with third parties.
Multi-Hop Connections
You can enable multi-hop connections which route your traffic through multiple VPN servers for enhanced privacy. Your data takes a more circuitous route before exiting to your destination website or service.
Encryption
Mozilla VPN uses the WireGuard VPN protocol with 256-bit AES encryption which is an open-source, peer-reviewed protocol considered highly secure by experts where the traffic is encrypted end-to-end to prevent monitoring.
No Leaks
The service is designed to prevent IP address, DNS, and other leaks that could compromise your privacy with the use of IPv6 and DNS over HTTPS for additional protection.
Security Audits
Mozilla’s infrastructure and code undergo regular external security audits to identify and resolve vulnerabilities proactively.
Servers and Global Coverage
Mozilla VPN offers connection points in over 30 countries spread across North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. More server locations are added periodically.
Popular locations like the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, and Australia are included, and the best part is that you also get servers in Mexico, Turkey, South Africa, and Indonesia.
While 30+ countries have decent global coverage, top competitors offer significantly more locations. For example, ExpressVPN has servers in 94 countries and NordVPN has over 5200 servers in 60 countries.
If you frequently travel abroad or need to access region-blocked content from specific countries, the smaller server network could be a limitation but Mozilla plans to expand to more locations.
Speed and Performance
In our testing, we found Mozilla VPN speeds to be consistently fast and reliable enough for HD streaming and downloads where they ran speed tests connected to various servers in the US and Europe.
On a 500 Mbps connection, speeds when connected to US West Coast servers averaged around 200-250 Mbps, which is plenty fast. Speeds to Europe were a bit slower at 100-150 Mbps but still quick.
Your speed will vary based on your own connection, distance to servers, and current network conditions, but in general, Mozilla VPN provides solid speeds for a VPN.
The lack of speed throttling or data caps means you can download or stream as much as you want without slowdowns while the performance will remain consistent even during peak usage times.
Streaming video and gaming worked smoothly when connected to most Mozilla VPN servers but however, some streaming platforms like Netflix did successfully block connections from a few locations. Top VPNs like ExpressVPN and NordVPN generally have better success rates at evading streaming blocks.
Windows and macOS
In a recent mozilla vpn review 2023, it was noted that the Windows and macOS clients have the same clean, simple interface where you get a world map view showing all server locations and your current IP address details.
The app makes it easy to find fast server locations with a speed test feature, and you can also see server load percentages to pick less congested options. As emphasized in another mozilla vpn review 2023, user-friendliness remains a strong point for their interface.
Settings allow you to configure the VPN connection protocol, enable multi-hop, and set auto-connect rules where the app can automatically tunnel specific apps only through the VPN if desired.
An overlay network speed graph is available to monitor performance in real-time with trusted Wi-Fi networks to automatically disable the VPN when connected.
The desktop clients support handy keyboard shortcuts for quickly connecting and disconnecting the VPN.
iOS and Android
The Mozilla VPN mobile apps provide the same capabilities as the desktop ones in an easy-to-use interface so you get a map of server locations, current IP address, and settings to tweak the VPN connection behavior.
There are a few mobile-optimized features like quick actions to connect and change locations so you can also enable split-tunneling to route only certain apps through the VPN.
Some handy privacy tools are built into the mobile apps as well with a private browsing mode that prevents apps from tracking your activities. The Firefox browser integration automatically activates the VPN when you open a private browsing tab.
Like the desktop apps, Mozilla’s mobile VPN clients are polished and simple to operate.
Browser Extensions
Mozilla also offers VPN extensions for the Firefox and Chrome browsers, and these extensions route your browser traffic through the VPN but do not tunnel other apps.
The extensions make it easy to quickly enable the VPN whenever you open your browser to save you from having to manually connect the full VPN client for basic browsing privacy.
Pricing and Plans
Mozilla VPN costs a flat rate of $4.99 per month, regardless of subscription length. There are no multi-year discounts.
The pricing is very competitive among premium VPNs. For comparison, ExpressVPN costs $8.32/month and NordVPN is $3.71/month for their 1-year plans.
A few key things to know about Mozilla VPN’s pricing:
- No long-term contracts are required so you can cancel anytime
- Unlimited devices can be connected simultaneously
- Payment options include credit cards, PayPal, and Bitcoin
- A 7-day free trial is available to test the service
- There are occasional promotional discounts if you time your purchase right
The unlimited multi-device support makes Mozilla VPN a great value for families and group use where the average VPN allows 5-7 concurrent connections per account.
While the lack of multi-year pricing is a downside, the flexible subscription and competitive rate help offset that so overall, Mozilla VPN offers a very fair price point.
Customer Support
The Mozilla VPN website has an extensive knowledge base answering common questions about supported platforms, privacy policies, connection issues, and more where guides walk you through initial setup on various devices.
You can submit a support ticket directly within the VPN apps or through the website if you have an issue that isn’t addressed in the knowledge base. Based on user reports, support response times are generally prompt within a few hours.
The MozillaVPN Twitter account provides updates on service status and announcements. You can also find peer support on Mozilla’s Reddit community and Discourse forum.
Mozilla does not offer direct live chat support to get the quickest personalized support, submitting a ticket is your best option, and take transparency and privacy seriously in their VPN support as well. They contract with third-party provider Anthropic to handle user inquiries while minimizing data collection.
Review Summary
While it doesn’t have as many servers or unblocking capabilities as rivals, Mozilla VPN excels at core privacy and security with the combination of trust, flexible pricing, multi-platform clients, and ease of use making it an attractive option for many users.
Conclusion
Mozilla VPN successfully lives up to its promises of enhanced privacy and security when online while the server network is limited compared to rivals, the speeds are reliable for streaming and general web access. Platform support covers all bases except smart TVs and gaming consoles.
The transparent privacy policy, open-source codebase, and regular auditing give peace of mind that user data is not being mishandled or monetized. And at just $4.99/month with unlimited devices, Mozilla VPN offers exceptional value.
If having servers in 95+ countries is critical or you need to access Netflix in specific locations, Mozilla VPN falls a bit short. But on balance, it’s a trustworthy service that gets the privacy fundamentals right at a fair price point. For an easy-to-use VPN from a respected name in online privacy, Mozilla VPN is a very solid choice.
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