We generally discourage you from signing up to free VPNs. The reason is simple: unless it’s a free trial with a reputable VPN, there’s a strong chance your personal data is for sale.

Not-for-profit software company Mozilla – the team behind the Firefox browser – is planning to change this. It’s in the pre-release stage of developing a free VPN for the Firefox browser. This could really help those unsure about VPNs or unable to pay for a full VPN experience.

The idea of a VPN from Mozilla, a company that usually relies on donations, is encouraging. If there is any software team that gets the importance of a free and open internet, it’s Mozilla.

Mozilla VPN won’t offer the same universal protection in its browser extension form, however. Instead, you’ll get up to 12 free hours each month of “in-browser protection.” Beyond this, it’s time to subscribe. If you don’t spend all that long browsing the web on your device, 12 hours probably sounds enough, although we expect it will run out pretty quickly.

If you’re intrigued by the browser extension (currently US only) you’ll be interested to learn that they have a wider release planned.

So, that means two versions of Mozilla VPN: the free browser extension, and the desktop client offering full VPN routing. Compatible with Windows, Android, Chromebooks, and iPhones, a macOS version will be released at a later date.

The browser extension version will encrypt and route traffic via Cloudflare, the secure cloud networking company that many websites you visit are hosted on. Meanwhile, the full Mozilla VPN client will rely on Mullvad VPN’s servers and employ the Wireguard VPN protocol.

Mozilla VPN will let users protect up to five devices for just $4.99 a month. The UK price will probably be in the same ballpark.

If you’re interested in this VPN, you’ll have to wait for full release but you can head to fpn.firefox.com/vpn to join the wait list.