NordVPN Vs. Mozilla VPN (The 12 Differences)

Today, I’m comparing one of the best and one of the newest VPNs on the market NordVPN vs Mozilla Firefox VPN. NordVPN has managed to acquire millions of customers in almost ten years of being in service, while Mozilla has millions of Firefox browser users that the company will try to convert into their VPN users.  

In this NordVPN vs Firefox VPN head-to-head, we’ll look at what each has to offer and help you decide which one is the best for you. Read all the details after this short verdict:

NordVPN is still miles ahead of Mozilla’s VPN and offers more bang for the buck for more or less the same money. Arguably, only loyal Mozilla proponents and Firefox users would choose its VPN service over NordVPN’s speed, security, and stability.

NordVPNMozilla VPN
JurisdictionPanamaUSA
3rd party auditYes, by PwCYes, by Cure53
RAM-only serversNoNo
Native appsWindows
macOS
Android
iOS
Android TV
Linux
Windows
macOS
Android
iOS
Linux
Connections65
Browser extensionsChrome
Firefox
Firefox
Advanced featuresKill Switch
NordLynx protocol
Dedicated IP
Double VPN
Onion over VPN
Obfuscated servers
Ads Blocker
Kill Switch
WireGuard
Multi-hop
Custom DNS
Servers network5,100+ in 60 countries400+ in 30+ countries
Streaming and P2PYes, dedicated serversStreaming no
P2P yes
Free trialYes, in the mobile appYes, 30 days
Price$4.92 /mo 1-year plan
$59 billed
30-days money-back
$4.99 /mo 1-year plan
$59.88 billed
30-days money-back
cybersynchs.com rating4.8/5.0N/A
Full reviewNordVPN Review
Get NordVPNGet Mozilla VPN

About NordVPN 

nordvpn

NordVPN was founded more than nine years ago and operates under the Panama jurisdiction. The company ownership is complicated and exists in three layers: NordSec, Tefincom, and Tesonet with offices in Lithuania and Cyprus, as well as the Netherlands, and the UK. 

The company reportedly takes its inspiration from the Nordic ideals of confidence, trust, and innovation. What started as a single server is now one of the biggest, if not the biggest, VPN providers in the world with more than 14 million users.

Best VPN Overall
Best VPN Features

About Mozilla VPN

mozilla vpn

Mozilla VPN, on the other hand, is an open-source VPN that has had its start as a web browser extension for Firefox under the name Firefox Private Network. Since then, the VPN was also released as standalone desktop and mobile apps. 

Mozilla itself is a free software community that was organized in 1998. Does that mean that the Mozilla VPN is free as well? Not exactly. There is a limited free version, but only in the browser extension. All other apps are paid monthly or annually. 

Why is NordVPN so Special? 

nordvpn

NordVPN is, simply put, one of the best, cheapest, most secure, and fastest VPNs in existence and is regularly on top of best VPN lists from websites like ours and many others.

It offers a little bit of everything concerning privacy and protection, streaming and gaming. With thousands of servers in dozens of countries, you’re definitely going to find what you need, whenever you need it. 

NordVPN couldn’t be easier to use and even complete VPN beginners can enjoy the service from the onset. Unsurprisingly, it even works in China and employs 256-bit AES encryption. 

NordVPN actively works on circumventing all the latest Netflix VPN crackdowns and lets you seamlessly access Netflix US, Canada, UK, Japan, Australia, and others, as well as Hulu, iPlayer, iView, and so on.   

Why is Mozilla VPN so Special?

mozilla vpn

Mozilla VPN isn’t entirely a Mozilla Foundation product. In fact, the VPN is a white-labeled Mullvad VPN service from the Swedish company Amagicom AB. Mullvad has been around since 2009 and is a well-known, fast, and reliable VPN. 

So, why not simply use Mullvad’s VPN then? After all, it is much cheaper than Mozilla VPN (unless you get an annual contract, then they’re the same).

Mozilla users have a special mindset and a spirit of “sticking it to the man.“ That could be said for all VPN users, but Mozilla has been at the forefront of privacy and security for more than two decades now and has amassed millions of loyal followers.

They are certainly the target customers of Mozilla VPN and by paying for it, they are directly supporting the Mozilla Foundation and its efforts. 

Features 

NordVPN 

NordVPN is packed with features

NordVPN is jam-packed with industry-leading features and no sane person is going to be asking for more, not at this price point anyway. 

  • Quick Connect (connects to the fastest server in a given location)
  • Kill switch (disconnects your device from the internet if you lose the VPN connection)
  • CyberSec (blocks malicious websites) 
  • Dark Web Monitor (send alerts if your credentials are publicly exposed)
  • Tapjacking protection (warns against malicious app ads)  
  • Split tunneling (choose which apps go through VPN)
  • Custom DNS servers
  • Strict no-logs policy 
  • Dedicated IP servers
  • Double VPN servers
  • Obfuscated servers
  • P2P servers

NordVPN has four different types of specialty servers that serve specific purposes. Dedicated IP servers give you a unique and fixed IP address and are good for accessing sites and services that are actively trying to stop fraud, such as banks, card payment services, and financial companies.

Double VPN servers give you extra protection and stop people, companies, and institutions from tracking where your data is going. 

If you don’t want websites to know that you’re using a VPN, you can connect to one of the obfuscated servers that make it appear that you’re using a normal internet connection.

P2P servers are optimized for file sharing and have no bandwidth limits and don’t log activity. They’re ideal for large quantities of data, torrenting, but also for journalists. 

Mozilla VPN

Mozilla VPN Settings

Mozilla has a much shorter list of features and specialized servers yet costs more. Most users arguably don’t need most of the extra features in a VPN. Still, it is nice to have them.

Mozilla’s list of features was even shorter when it first came out, so the company is taking steps in the right direction and is adding new features and benefits.  

  • Multi-hop feature (doubling up your VPN)
  • No logging of your network activity
  • Device-level encryption
  • Split tunneling 
  • Kill switch
  • Custom DNS servers 

As you can see, all the now standard features such as kill switch, double VPN and split tunneling are present in both VPNs’ settings and that makes us happy. Anything extra is a nice added bonus. 

Jurisdiction and Transparency

It’s fairly important to know the jurisdiction of VPN companies. It’s also good if they’re fully transparent and are being audited by third-party auditing firms. 

NordVPN 

nordvpn

NordVPN is based in Panama which has no data retention laws and is located outside of the prying 14-Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance. This is in fact important to the end-user as Panama has multiple jurisdictional advantages. 

The company did have third-party audits performed by some of the top auditing companies such as Switzerland’s PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and were in fact one of the first VPN companies to ever go through an auditing process.  

NordVPN is also a founding member of the VPN Trust Initiative that sets quality standards and educates the general public about the importance of privacy, security, and benefits of VPN. 

Mozilla VPN

mozilla vpn

The company regularly issues a transparency report, not only for its VPN service, but for all of its products. It admits that it provides at least some information to law enforcement when faced with a subpoena. 

The fact that Mozilla is doing that is worrying, to say the least. There’s also the fact that the company is based in San Francisco and falls under the jurisdiction of the United States which doesn’t have the best track record and is pursuing whistleblowers, for example, to the fullest extent of the law.

Mozilla is somewhat transparent of the fact that it’s a repackaged Mullvad VPN and the link leading to the full list of servers points from Mozilla’s website to Mullvad.  

It’s disappointing that there’s no option to pay with crypto, only PayPal or cards. Plus, you need to have a Mozilla account to get the VPN.    

Security 

Both companies approach security with high detail and go to great lengths to prevent data breaches. However, NordVPN did have a data breach from March 2018 to October 2019. The hackers stole user data from a server in Finland and made their own NordVPN server to fool people to connect to it.

Needless to say, the company severed ties with the data center in question but still faced criticism that it didn’t disclose the information about the breach as soon as it became aware of it. 

Am I worried about NordVPNs security? Not really. Data breaches can happen and do happen on a regular basis and all we can hope for is that our data is in capable hands.

Mozilla, on the other hand, didn’t have any data breaches yet and is a very privacy and security-focused organization. 

Both companies have implemented data breach alerts that will notify you about any past data breaches where your credentials were publicly exposed.

RELATED: NordVPN Torrenting: Is It Safe and Reliable?

Speed

NordVPN

nordvpn

NordVPN is regularly on top of the list of the fastest VPNs in the world. You’ll be happy to know that the service won’t slow down your internet connection by much and is more than enough for streaming 4K videos, fast-paced gaming, HD conferencing, and whatever else you do online.

NordVPN speed tests

Mozilla VPN

mozilla vpn

Mozilla VPN can certainly keep up with the best of them. Although the speeds in our tests were better for Mozilla, they were more than a week apart as I had issues connecting to Mozilla’s VPN. But even in repeated NordVPN tests, Mozilla was better.

It was unfortunate that I couldn’t connect to Mozilla VPN from either of my devices and the support team communicated that some users did in fact have issues with connecting to their VPN after the latest update. 

However, after they resolved the issue, the speeds proved to be almost the same ass without a VPN connection.

Mozilla VPN Connection Speeds Results

Browser Extensions 

Browser extensions are generally less safe than standalone apps as they don’t protect all of your traffic, only what you’re browsing.

Nevertheless, NordVPN offers a selection of two browser extensions that you can use when surfing the internet. There’s the Chrome support and the Firefox. Both versions bring you full access to different servers, encrypted traffic, and protection from malicious websites.

Mozilla naturally offers Firefox browser extension but no other. Can’t say I’m surprised though.

RELATED: How To Cancel NordVPN and Receive Full Refund

Apps and Ease of Use 

NordVPN Android app

NordVPN supports a standard range of devices with native apps. All the app stores carry its app and you can download one for Windows, Mac, and Linux. 

The apps are really straightforward to use and beginner-friendly with all the settings laid out nicely for a streamlined user experience.

It doesn’t get any better than this. 

Mozilla VPN Android app

Mozilla also comes in a wide variety of apps as well as a browser extension for Firefox (NordVPN is also available there). The app itself is lightweight with not too many settings so beginners shouldn’t be confused and will be able to use it out of the box. 

Simultaneous Connections 

Both NordVPN and Mozilla VPN offer simultaneous connections on a similar number of devices. In the case of Nord, it’s 6 devices and Mozilla offers connectivity for up to 5. 

That should be enough for normal users, but those that have a couple of kids or want to share their VPN account with others will have to look at other VPN providers with an unlimited number of devices. 

Streaming and P2P 

NordVPN 

nordvpn

NordVPN is a champion of streaming content from likes of Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Amazon Prime, and many others. Some servers work better than others at unblocking certain streaming platforms so it’s unfortunate that they’re not labeled. 

With Netflix, it will reliably open up heaps of content from other countries such as Australia, Canada, UK, Japan, USA, and others even after the latest crackdown from Netflix.

The service is also excellent for P2P filesharing and torrenting and even has servers designated for torrenting. With a built-in kill switch, you have peace of mind that you’re secure and away from prying eyes.  

READ ALSO: Will a VPN Protect You When Torrenting (Explained)

Mozilla VPN

mozilla vpn

Streaming Netflix over a VPN is a hot topic these days and most VPN providers are struggling to get it right. Mozilla VPN is one of them as we could only watch the Netflix Originals content.  

As most streaming services don’t allow VPNs, they can and will block your access and it seems that Mozilla isn’t keen on supporting a workaround that some of its competitors are implementing. 

There’s also a lack of support for torrenting with no specialized servers. It does have a no-logs policy and a kill switch but, unfortunately, no port forwarding. 

Pricing 

Both options are budget-friendly, especially if you sign a multi-year contract. 

NordVPN 

nordvpn

Prices change regularly so we won’t disclose them here but know that NordVPN is one of the cheapest and still the best VPNs out there. They might not be competitive if you only sign up for one month, but their two and three-year contracts are super-competitive and some of the best in the biz.  

RELATED: NordVPN Black Friday & Cyber Monday Deals

Mozilla VPN

mozilla vpn

Mozilla is a bit cheaper than NordVPN if you sign up for one month but goes shoulder-to-shoulder on the 12 month-plan. There are no two or three-year contracts as of yet. 

There is an elephant in the room as Mullvad VPN, the product Mozilla was based on, has flat-rate pricing and is much cheaper than both for one month. It does even out on the annual plan.

The Bottom Line

At this point in time, Mozilla VPN simply isn’t competitive with other major VPN services such as NordVPN. They simply lack the server numbers. The list of features is also inadequate but we’re hopeful Mozilla will keep rolling out more of them as time goes especially specialized servers. However, that might not be their call as they’re dependent on Mullvard.

NordVPN is still one of our favorite VPNs and we can sincerely find no faults. The list of features is elbow-long and thousands of servers, including specialized ones, instill confidence in millions of customers. 

This wasn’t a fair matchup but rather one of those freak fights from the beginnings of the UFC.  

Best VPN Overall
Best VPN Features
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