Mozilla VPN vs. NordVPN

Mozilla made a name for itself as a popular open-source browser focused on privacy. So, it’s not a huge surprise to see the company behind Firefox release a VPN, considering it’s an essential tool for keeping your online activities confidential.

If you’re a Firefox user, you might not think twice about signing up for Mozilla’s VPN. But before you hit the buy button, we recommend comparing it to one of the top VPNs in the industry, NordVPN. That’s what we did. We bought subscriptions to both plans to see which one is better. NordVPN is our preferred option, but there’s a lot to like about Mozilla. Take a look through our findings and see what you think.

Security

The reason we recommend using VPNs is because they keep your data safe and secure online. We don’t just look at the technology the product uses. Our team digs into the privacy policies and the location of the company’s headquarters to make sure there won’t be any nasty surprises.

• Encryption: NordVPN uses ChaCha20 and AES-256. As the name implies, this encryption method employs a 256-bit key to encode your information into a cipher. How good is AES-256? It’s used by the U.S. military to encode military secrets. Mozilla uses a 256-bit encryption method as well, which it creates by combining the ChaCha20 and Poly1305 keys. AES-256 is considered the gold standard in encryption, but ChaCha20 is becoming the preferred method for companies like Google. So, we’ll call this category a draw.

• Protocols: After encryption, the VPN protocol is the next most crucial factor to consider. A VPN protocol is a set of rules that guides how the encryption is applied. NordVPN opted to use OpenVPN and a version of WireGuard they developed called NordLynx. OpenVPN has been around for more than 20 years. It’s open-source and has been extensively tested by security experts. WireGuard is also open source, but it’s newer. However, it’s believed to be faster than OpenVPN. Mozilla offers only one of the two options – WireGuard.
• Location: What does location have to do with your VPN’s security? Plenty. If your VPN is headquartered in a country that belongs to the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, or 14 Eyes surveillance alliances, government agencies can force it to turn over customer data. NordVPN is located in Panama, a non-member of these alliances. However, Mozilla is located in the U.S., the ringleader of all three alliances.
• Privacy policies: Another vital aspect to consider in assessing a VPN’s security is its privacy policy. This is where the VPN outlines what data it collects about you. NordVPN stands out by keeping no logs of your online activities – no timestamps, browsing histories, or IP addresses. This ensures your information remains inaccessible to anyone else, even NordVPN itself. In contrast, Mozilla’s policy includes logging your actual IP address for 90 days. This data can potentially identify users and, depending on jurisdiction, could lead to legal trouble. Moreover, Mozilla’s U.S. location means this information could be obtained with a simple subpoena.
• VPN obfuscation: VPN obfuscation hides the fact that you’re using a VPN. NordVPN has specific obfuscated servers devoted to providing utmost secrecy. Mozilla hasn’t yet added this technology to its VPN service.
• RAM-based servers: Also known as diskless servers, RAM-based VPN servers are completely wiped after every reboot. That’s much better for your privacy than traditional servers that use hard drives, which are prone to leaving recoverable traces of data that’s already been erased. Mozilla and NordVPN both use RAM-based servers.
• Online threat blocking: VPNs these days do more than just encrypt your data. Most of them now can also block intrusive ads, malicious sites, and trackers. In fact, Mozilla and NordVPN can do all those for you if you browse while connected to their VPNs. We have to give NordVPN credit though because it also scanned our downloads for malware – almost like antivirus software does.
• Add-on privacy tools: Mozilla offers a host of other privacy tools like data breach monitoring and email masking, but we found NordVPN’s add-on tools more useful. For starters, you can upgrade your plan to include the NordPass password manager we reviewed. Dark web monitoring is also complementary to all NordVPN plans, but you can upgrade to full-on identity theft protection with the top-tier plan. With it, you’ll enjoy dark web and credit monitoring, cyber extortion protection, and identity theft insurance with up to $1 million coverage.

To be fair, Mozilla does have some valuable security features. For instance, the Mozilla VPN offers a kill switch and multi-hop technology. The thing is, NordVPN offers those as well. And, in all the other important security categories, NordVPN goes well beyond Mozilla.

Productivity and Entertainment

Most VPNs do more than just connect you to a server in the U.S. or another country. They have multiple features to make the VPN easy to use or protect you if the internet drops out. These are some of the ways NordVPN and Mozilla go above and beyond the bare minimum.

• Split tunneling: Split tunneling lets you log on to the regular internet at the same time you’re logged on to the VPN. Why is that so important? Because not all tasks actually need a VPN. You can probably get away with streaming your Spotify playlists over the coffee shop’s Wi-Fi, and when you do, you save bandwidth and get better speeds out of your VPN. NordVPN offers split-tunneling on Android, Android TV, and Windows devices. Mozilla also features split-tunneling but for Windows, Android, and Linux devices.
• Servers: The more places where your VPN has servers, the more likely you are to find one in the location you need. NordVPN maintains over 6,700 servers in 111 countries – one of the largest networks we’ve seen. Mozilla has around 500 servers located in over 30 countries. That’s not terrible, but it’s far below NordVPN’s numbers.
• Streaming access: Remember we said that NordVPN has obfuscation? That’s important for logging on to streaming services outside your home country. Netflix, Max, Disney+, and other streamers offer lots of content in other countries that you can’t see here in the U.S., and vice versa. Obfuscation allows you to access this content. Since Mozilla doesn’t have this feature, you’ll struggle to connect to any streaming service.

Once again, we’d be lying if we said Mozilla doesn’t offer some nice bonus features, like P2P servers that help with torrenting. In the end, though, NordVPN winds up besting it again.

Pricing

Last, but certainly not least, we move to the issue of pricing. And there is a bit of good news for Mozilla. NordVPN charges $12.99 for a one-month subscription. Mozilla beats that with a price that’s $3 cheaper.

Sadly, that victory is fleeting. If you compare the two VPNs in terms of annual price, NordVPN manages to draw even. An annual subscription to Mozilla costs $4.99 per month, roughly the same price as an annual NordVPN subscription. And, NordVPN offers a two-year subscription that will run you just $3.59 per month.

You should also note that Mozilla isn’t available everywhere yet. As of the time of writing, it’s only accessible in 33 countries. That includes the U.S., fortunately.

The Bottom Line

Mozilla’s VPN certainly has its strong points. It’s fast, it has some decent security features, and its single-month price is a few dollars cheaper than NordVPN’s.

When it comes down to brass tacks, though, it can’t compete with most of NordVPN’s features, and where it can compete, it’s largely untested. A 256-bit encryption method using ChaCha20 and Poly1305 is probably strong, but there’s absolutely no doubt that AES-256 is more secure.

Sign up with NordVPN if you want

• The best VPN on the market
• Access to streaming content libraries in other countries
• A two-year subscription
• Split tunneling
• An airtight privacy policy

Sign up with Mozilla if you want

• A single-month subscription price below $10.00
• To support a company that prioritizes people over profits