Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of Firefox’s free built-in VPN Beta, a new privacy feature that hides your IP address while browsing in Firefox.
When you browse the web, your IP address is typically visible to the websites you visit and to your internet service provider. IP addresses can be used to approximate your location or link activity over time - for example, when browsing on public Wi-Fi or visiting sites you’d prefer not to be linked together. Built-in VPN reduces that exposure by masking your IP address while you browse in Firefox.
Our goal is straightforward: make IP protection accessible directly in Firefox.
The built-in VPN is available for up to 50 GB of browsing per month. It is currently rolling out to users in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, and we are planning expansion to more regions soon.
We’ve also heard concerns about so-called “free VPNs,” which often rely on advertising or selling user data to generate revenue. Built-in VPN is designed differently. It does not sell your browsing data and does not inject advertising into your traffic.
Instead, we offer a limited amount of browser-level protection for free, alongside Mozilla VPN, our paid, full-device VPN service. This allows us to make IP protection more accessible while continuing to invest in more comprehensive privacy tools.
How it works
Instead of connecting directly to a website, Firefox routes your browsing traffic through servers run by our service partner Fastly.
In practice:
- Firefox creates an encrypted TLS connection to the proxy.
- DNS lookups are sent through that encrypted connection.
- The proxy connects to the website on your behalf.
- Website content remains end-to-end encrypted using standard HTTPS encryption.
What each party can see:
- Your ISP or local network sees that you connected to the proxy, but not which websites you visited.
- The proxy provider can see the destination hostname, connection timing, and data volume, because it must know where to connect. It cannot read passwords, form entries, messages, or page content.
- The website sees the proxy’s IP address, not your real one.
Mozilla receives aggregate data usage from the proxy provider so Firefox can display your monthly usage. This information is separate from your browsing activity and does not include the websites you visit.
For more details about how Built-in VPN works, including data limits, account requirements, and privacy protections, see our support article.
How to use it
To get started:
- Update to Firefox 149 or later
- When the feature is available, click the VPN button in the toolbar
- Sign in to or create a Mozilla account (used to track your usage against the 50 GB limit)
- Turn on protection in the panel
The VPN indicator will turn green when it is active.
You can manage the feature anytime in Settings > Privacy & Security > VPN. If you prefer not to use it, you can remove the toolbar button. If you experience issues with a specific site, you can exclude it from the proxy directly in the panel.
We’d like your feedback
Built-in VPN is launching in Beta, and your feedback will directly inform how it evolves. We’ll continue expanding availability and refining the feature as we learn how people use it.
If you try it, we’d like to know:
- Does it work as you expect?
- Have you noticed any sites behaving differently?
- Have you encountered any performance or connection issues?
- What use cases are important to you, and what would you like to see this feature do?
Share your thoughts in the comments below. Your input helps us improve reliability, clarity, and overall experience.
- The Firefox Team
