Mozilla introduced a free built-in VPN for Firefox on Android. The feature is currently available for select users, with Mozilla mentioning a gradual release for other users on its official announcement page.

With the built-in VPN, you’ll have a 50GB/mo usage limit, which should be enough for everyday tasks and casual web surfing. However, if you are a heavy user or need a VPN for streaming or other intensive tasks, you might run out of that pretty quickly. Mozilla brings this feature to Firefox with the recent update, along with better media control options and the native Android share sheet for phones that run Android 14 or above.

Good for everyday tasks, but not enough to hide everything from your ISP

But we welcome free privacy features regardless!

Mozilla had previously introduced a similar feature (with similar limitations) for Windows. But now, the free 50GB browser-level proxy is available for Android as well. Although Mozilla calls it a VPN, the free feature doesn’t use a traditional VPN protocol such as WireGuard. Instead, Firefox sends browser traffic and DNS requests through a TLS-encrypted proxy that’s operated by Fastly. It pretty much does the same thing, which is hiding your browser history data from your internet provider or anyone else on your network observing your internet traffic.

Mozilla’s free built-in VPN surely beats the random free VPNs with shady origins you might come across on Google Play. Several of them don’t guarantee any privacy, are really slow, and are built with malicious intents. Those are only some of the reasons we believe these sorts of free VPNs just don’t cut it.

That said, it’s important to note that Firefox’s built-in VPN doesn’t throw a blanket on your entire device. After turning it on, you can have a more secure connection than you’d otherwise have while connecting to the internet — so long as you stay on Firefox. On the other hand, your messaging platforms, other browsers, and any other app that connects to the internet will still be exposed.

Do you really need a VPN?

The answer depends on your usage. I personally use VPNs for extra protection and data privacy, especially when I’m connected to public networks. While VPNs can certainly be useful, they’re not the only technology capable of hiding your browsing information from your ISP. That said, Firefox’s implementation offers a much simpler, one-toggle solution that I sure welcome!