Mozilla VPN Review 2024: Before You Buy, Is It Worth It?

Fast on Local Servers, but Not So Much on Distant Locations

Mozilla VPN’s server speeds are pretty fast for a mid-range provider, but I did experience slower speeds when connected to servers farther away from my location. My average speed throughout my tests remained at a 10% drop from my usual base speed. Overall, each local server I tested was still consistently fast for high-bandwidth activities like video chat, gaming, and streaming in HD. However, servers in Japan, Australia, and other faraway locations caused a speed drop of 50-75%, which isn’t desirable — especially if your base speeds are already quite slow.

The faraway servers also heavily increased my ping. While it’s not a big issue for browsing, streaming, or torrenting, you’ll likely experience lags and slow gameplay with most online games, as I did in Call of Duty: Warzone. I had to deal with multiple interruptions in the lobby and waiting room before the game even started, which made me almost give up on the whole thing. I had a similar experience with other online games, too. If you’re looking for a reliably fast VPN even on more distant servers — CyberGhost offers gaming-optimized servers for the lowest possible latency during online gaming.

Speed Test Results

During my tests, I discovered that Mozilla VPN had great speeds in most of the locations I tried. I checked servers in London, Belgium, Paris, Frankfurt, Toronto, New York, and more from my location in the UK. I noticed a speed drop of 10-15% from my base traffic across all European servers I connected to. This difference was almost unnoticeable.

Regrettably, the servers of Mozilla, positioned more than 5,000 kilometers distant from my location, resulted in a notable decline in speed. Upon linking to Canada and New York, I observed a 30% reduction in my data flow. However, the selection of Tokyo and Sydney led to a substantial 75% reduction in data flow, giving rise to numerous challenges related to streaming, gaming, and torrenting. This occurred despite my typically swift internet connection. Consequently, if you experience generally slower internet, your connection could be further compromised.

These mixed results are quite disappointing, especially considering Mozilla VPN’s premium prices.

Is Mozilla VPN Fast Enough for Gaming? Only if You Use Local Servers on Your PC

Considering the high ping time on far-flung servers, Mozilla VPN is not recommended for PC gamers who travel frequently. As a passionate gamer myself, I focused on 3 main areas when checking Mozilla VPN:

• Ping/Latency — The time needed for your device to send and receive data from the server
• Packet loss — The percentage of files your device fails to receive from the current data transfer
• Bandwidth — The amount of information you can send and receive through your network

Ideally, your ping should stay below 100ms for your gameplay to run as smoothly as possible. I used Mozilla VPN to play Call of Duty: Warzone, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Apex Legends and noticed zero interruptions. None of my online lobbies froze either, as I had a minimal packet loss of 1-2% (you don’t want it any higher than 5%). Mozilla VPN also has unlimited bandwidth, so it never deliberately slowed down my speeds or capped how much data I could send over to the server, which is great for traffic-heavy games.

However, Mozilla’s servers in Japan and Australia pushed my ping to just under 300ms, resulting in regular lagging in every online game I joined. If you regularly play games, you know that every second could lead to victory or defeat. Unfortunately, my games mostly ended in the latter with Mozilla’s distant servers. Since Mozilla VPN isn’t compatible with any consoles or routers, you can’t use it to play games on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, or other gaming devices.

Server Network — 500+ Servers in Over 30 Popular Countries

Mozilla VPN contracts all of its servers from Mullvad VPN, so it offers the same 500+ servers using the WireGuard protocol in more than 30 countries. This is a good-sized network, considering Mozilla isn’t a premium VPN and is still rather new on the market. However, it doesn’t have any servers in Africa — not even in Egypt or South Africa, which other similarly-sized providers offer.

Mozilla VPN has partnered with Mullvad VPN and uses its server infrastructure to a large extent. While all of these servers are physical, RAM-only technology is not incorporated for an increased level of security. RAM-only technology eliminates the need for hard drives and wipes all data from the server after it is shut down or restarted.

Every time I connected to the same Mozilla VPN server, I had a brand new IP address. This means that Mozilla VPN uses dynamic IP addresses, which give you a unique online identity whenever you start a new connection. This increases your privacy, as it makes it much more difficult to track you online.

However, I was disappointed with the lack of configuration options. Mozilla let me disable IPv6 (which is on by default), but that’s it. I recommend turning it off straight away as it may lead to IP leaks when you connect to a VPN. Such leaks could expose your real location and, in turn, block you from your usual streaming platforms or other local websites. However, many online security companies say that IPv6 provides faster speeds as it moves your data quicker across the web than IPv4. So, I’m glad Mozilla VPN gives you the freedom to choose whether you want to use IPv6 or not, but I’d still like to have a much bigger selection of security options to alter.

Despite covering a fairly large part of the world, Mozilla VPN is available only in select countries. These include the US, the US, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, and Malaysia. If you live or travel anywhere outside of these countries, you won’t be able to install Mozilla VPN on your device. You’d need another VPN to connect to a server in any of the serviced countries just to set up your account.

Security — Advanced Military-Grade Encryption

Mozilla VPN offers an extremely safe and secure VPN service. Sending your traffic through its encrypted tunnel will protect you from cybercriminals, hackers, and government surveillance. Here are some of the security features Mozilla offers to help you better understand its capabilities:

• ChaCha20 and Poly1305 Encryption – The military-grade AES-256 encryption is a common choice for VPNs, but Mozilla VPN secures your data with ChaCha20 cipher to provide faster traffic that’s equally as secure. Combined with the Poly1305 authentication, ChaCha20 wraps your data in 256-bit code (which is the same length as AES-256 encryption).
• WireGuard Protocol – Mozilla VPN uses WireGuard protocol which offers fast speeds and strong protection. There are only 4,000 lines of code in this protocol, making it easier to audit for security flaws.
• Dynamic IP addresses – By using this function, you’ll get a new IP address every time you connect, which will increase your chances of going undetected.
• Multi-Hop – The Multi-Hop security feature allows you to tunnel their internet traffic through two servers as opposed to a single server.
• Kill switch – The kill switch does a good job of protecting your personal data if you suddenly lose your connection. There’s no reason to disable it at any point, and you’ll be much safer without changing the setting.
• Custom DNS – The DNS configuration function allows you to block malicious domains and ads on your preferred server. You can also enable protection against IPv6 leaks, so your real IP addresses will not be accidentally disclosed.
• Split tunneling – This feature, called App Permissions in the Mozilla VPN app, allows you to check or uncheck applications you do not want to use with the VPN. This feature is available only on Windows, Android, and Linux.

My tests did not identify any IP leaks, DNS leaks, or WebRTC leaks. I wasn’t surprised by the results, though. Considering that the Mozilla VPN utilizes WireGuard protocol and double encryption, I anticipated that my tests would go smoothly.

Considering how security-conscious Mozilla claims to be, I was disappointed that Mozilla VPN doesn’t come with a malware blocker. This puts your devices at a higher risk of malware infection, including viruses and trackers hiding in shady ads on multiple online platforms.

Privacy — Stores Some Data about Users

Since it’s such a vocal privacy advocate, I was disappointed to see that Mozilla logs a ton of user data based on the company’s Data Privacy Principles. After carefully reading through the small print, I noticed that Mozilla VPN logs:

• Your Firefox account details, including your location, original IP address, and email
• Your device’s hardware and software specifications
• What time you log in to the VPN app and which server you choose

All of this data can be used to identify you as a user, so you don’t get the promised privacy protection. At most, premium services tend to temporarily store technical data and anonymous connection details just to make sure they continue working as they should. Many VPNs also promise to delete any stored data within 30 days too, but Mozilla VPN has no mention of that in its Terms & Conditions.

What’s also concerning is that Mozilla VPN shares user data with third-party services it works with, Mullvad and Stripe. Since Mozilla rents its servers from Mullvad, it allows the service to receive all encrypted information that moves through its network. At the same time, Stripe (which manages Mozilla’s payments) records your payment details. Both companies are obliged to never reveal this information, and so far, they’re keeping their promise — but I’m still not fully comfortable with how many services have access to it.

Mozilla’s headquarters are located in California, which means its VPN has to comply with US data collection laws. Since the US is a part of the 5-, 9-, and 14- Eyes Alliance (an intelligence group that shares people’s personal data), Mozilla VPN is legally obliged to hand over its users’ logs. This is a highly questionable location for a VPN, and, combined with partial data logging, makes me question if Mozilla VPN is as trustworthy as it claims to be.

Despite its small size, Mozilla VPN already underwent an independent audit conducted by Cure53. The results highlighted multiple cybersecurity issues and vulnerabilities that have since been fixed, but there was no mention of whether Mozilla sticks to its no-logs policy or not. It’s strange that Mozilla used an independent audit to uncover software issues rather than confirm its privacy stance.

This makes me think Mozilla’s zero-logs are actually more of a marketing tactic. Instead, you should connect to ExpressVPN for full and audited privacy protection. The service is completely transparent about its practices, so I’m confident there is nothing to hide.

Torrenting — Supported on All Servers, But I Don’t Recommend It

Torrenting and P2P file-sharing works on every Mozilla VPN server. When I tested it, I torrented a few 15-20GB public-domain files in around 60 minutes when I connected to a server in London. This is the closest server to me, so it gave me the best speeds I could get. Choosing locations across the world in the US prolonged the downloads, and the same files took 2-3 times longer to finish.

I also found zero IP, DNS, and WebRTC leaks on over 20 servers in Europe and North America I tried to torrent with as long as I had the kill switch on. This is great as your data won’t be accidentally revealed as you download files.

Despite the kill switch and leak protection, I don’t feel comfortable torrenting with Mozilla VPN as it logs multiple parts of personal user data. This means that your original IP address, activity logs, email, and even your device’s details are stored on the provider’s servers. If Mozilla was asked to hand over this data, your information could become a part of a criminal investigation — and that’s the last thing you need when you torrent copyright-free files.

Mozilla VPN doesn’t support port forwarding either, which would be a great addition for torrenting users. That’s because using the feature can improve your download speeds and create a direct tunnel between you and the seeders. There is no clear answer whether it will become available at any point, as Mozilla’s customer service just keeps repeating that the service might look into it in the future.

Please note that no matter which VPN you use to torrent, my team and I don’t condone illegal behavior, including torrenting copyrighted material. Please research your local laws and ensure that everything you download is copyright-free.

Does Mozilla VPN Work in China? It’s Not Exactly Clear

Mozilla VPN has contradicting information on its website about whether it works in China or not. When I first searched for the answer that seemed to make it obvious that you can’t use Mozilla VPN when you’re in China.

However, I found multiple FAQs where Mozilla agents said that you can connect to any server when you’re in China — as long as you download it before you go there. These answers are scattered around the website, and many other similar questions are left unanswered, even a year later. I reached out to Mozilla’s customer support via email personally to get a clear current statement, but after chasing them up multiple times, I still haven’t received an answer.

It feels like too much of a gamble to get Mozilla VPN without knowing if it works in countries with tough internet firewalls, especially if you regularly travel there. Instead, you can get ExpressVPN for China as it has a proven record of easily bypassing censorship there.

I expected better tech support from such a well-established company like Mozilla. There isn’t a live chat option, telephone support, and the email support form is quite difficult to find on the provider’s website. Once I managed to send an inquiry, I struggled to get a response at all or had to wait over a week. The best way to get help is through Mozilla’s online FAQs and Knowledge Base — but the answer catalog isn’t extensive enough to cover all possible topics.

Since Mozilla’s customer support is lacking in many ways, it’s not the easiest when it comes to troubleshooting more complicated issues. This is a problem if you’re new to VPNs because you might require additional help fast in order to make the most of your connection.

If you need help fast and can’t find an answer in the Knowledge Base, Mozilla VPN’s email support team is helpful, but I had to wait a long time for a response. At first, I asked for help as the VPN app didn’t work properly on my PC. I received an automated email that said someone would have got back to me within 48h, which is a standard wait time. A response came only a day later and detailed possible issues and how to fix them, which helped me get the service working.

However, I sent 3 different emails later that week and haven’t received an answer to any of my queries about further details on VPN features, even after I sent follow-up messages. This is deeply concerning as it could mean you won’t get help when you need it — and that’s unacceptable.

The email form is also difficult to find on Mozilla’s website. When I clicked on the “Help” section, I was redirected to the FAQ page. From there, I could contact the email support team, but Mozilla tried to convince me to use the online resources instead. It felt like a lot of hassle to finally get to the online form, only to never get any response.

It’s a lot easier to find the contact form within Mozilla VPN’s app. It’s located in the settings, under the “Get Help” tab. This was done directly in the Windows app, which saved me the time I’d need for a separate browser page to load. Since I was already logged in, I didn’t have to provide my email address, so I only chose a category and described my issue (I couldn’t connect to a server when I first downloaded the VPN). The “Get Help” tab also lets you provide direct user feedback and open the online support page directly from the app.

Mozilla VPN offers a very small FAQ and troubleshooting section with less than 50 articles. This is very small and nowhere near enough to cover all possible issues that could arise when using a VPN. This guide was helpful when it came to installing and configuring the VPN on all compatible devices – but that was about it. Other articles seemed to briefly cover Mozilla VPN’s features, but they also didn’t include much detail that wouldn’t be already available on the main website. If you’re looking for a service with great customer support, ExpressVPN offers a 24/7 live chat so you can always get a quick answer to your questions.