Mozilla Is Recruiting Beta Testers For a Free, Baked-In Firefox VPN (theregister.com)
(Wednesday October 15, 2025 @11:30PM (BeauHD)
from the what-to-expect dept.)
- Reference: 0179802940
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/10/15/2229217/mozilla-is-recruiting-beta-testers-for-a-free-baked-in-firefox-vpn
- Source link: https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/14/mozilla_firefox_vpn_beta/
Mozilla is [1]testing a free, built-in VPN for Firefox that routes traffic through Mozilla-managed servers directly in the browser. The Register reports:
> According to a staff post on Mozilla Connect, the company's idea-sharing platform, Firefox VPN is still an experimental feature in the early stages of development, but users will be selected at random to test it "over the next few months." Moz describes the feature as one that will sit beside the search bar on Firefox, routing web traffic through a Mozilla-managed VPN server, concealing the user's real IP address while adding a layer of encryption to their communications. Firefox VPN is a different project entirely from Mozilla VPN, a separate, paid-for product. The Firefox version will be free to use and confined to the browser itself, while Mozilla VPN can be used by up to five devices at a time.
>
> The Moz staffer on the product team who announced the feature said of the upcoming beta test: "We'll start simple, then gradually add new capabilities while learning how it impacts browsing, usage, and overall satisfaction. "Our long-term vision is ambitious: to build the best VPN-integrated browser on the market." In response to feedback, the staffer noted that while it will be a desktop browser feature first, "mobile is definitely a natural next step."
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/14/mozilla_firefox_vpn_beta/
> According to a staff post on Mozilla Connect, the company's idea-sharing platform, Firefox VPN is still an experimental feature in the early stages of development, but users will be selected at random to test it "over the next few months." Moz describes the feature as one that will sit beside the search bar on Firefox, routing web traffic through a Mozilla-managed VPN server, concealing the user's real IP address while adding a layer of encryption to their communications. Firefox VPN is a different project entirely from Mozilla VPN, a separate, paid-for product. The Firefox version will be free to use and confined to the browser itself, while Mozilla VPN can be used by up to five devices at a time.
>
> The Moz staffer on the product team who announced the feature said of the upcoming beta test: "We'll start simple, then gradually add new capabilities while learning how it impacts browsing, usage, and overall satisfaction. "Our long-term vision is ambitious: to build the best VPN-integrated browser on the market." In response to feedback, the staffer noted that while it will be a desktop browser feature first, "mobile is definitely a natural next step."
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/14/mozilla_firefox_vpn_beta/
Anyone have the About:Config (Score:2)
by Valgrus Thunderaxe ( 8769977 )
setting for those of us that want nothing to do with this?
Stoner featuritis (Score:4, Insightful)
by abulafia ( 7826 )
So we're still doing random, spaghetti-at-wall features instead of anything resembling a plan to keep FF viable.
It is my daily driver, and I'm going to be bummed when the closest thing to a user-aligned browser is Safari, but there we are.
Nothing is free (Score:2)
by fjo3 ( 1399739 )
What's the catch?
Re: Nothing is free (Score:1)
by EmagGeek ( 574360 )
The catch is that they collect data on all of your browsing habits and sell them to the highest bidder.
Re: Nothing is free (Score:2)
by Big Hairy Gorilla ( 9839972 )
Speaking of old wine in new bottles, popup promo at Washington Post today was get "free" subscription if you download Perplexity "AI" browser.
Yeah, no thanks.
Cloudfart (Score:2)
by dwater ( 72834 )
Prepare to battle the abomination that is cloudflare; probably Google too. They make Internet use a real PITA.
Re: (Score:2)
by kriston ( 7886 )
It's probably Mullvad VPN, like the original Mozilla VPN is.
But will it be any good? (Score:1)
Most VPNs over promise and under deliver on security. So, I wonder, who holds the keys? What length keys? Elliptical curve? Ehat curve? What encryption is used? What about quantum-proofing?
Maybe I should apply to beta-test?
Re: (Score:2)
It's Mozilla. You trust them completely, right?
Re: (Score:2)
Every time I see a goofy new feature from Mozilla, I'm reminded how Firefox started as Netscape without the bloat. That was a great product. I wonder what happened to it.
Re: (Score:2)
> Most VPNs over promise and under deliver on security. So, I wonder, who holds the keys? What length keys? Elliptical curve? Ehat curve? What encryption is used? What about quantum-proofing?
> Maybe I should apply to beta-test?
Agreed, I use VPNs a lot but I never used even once a commercial VPN and I wouldn't use Firefox free one either.
As a matter of fact, those can just concentrate the watching and tracking to one more single point yet.
I use several VPNs at the same time that don't change the default route on my desktop and several others on my router which may change the default route or not. On the desktop, it's to access protected resources. On the router, it's usually to optimize latency and throughput by routing through mo