Firefox 149.0 Released With Free Built-in VPN With 50 GB Monthly

Mozilla released Firefox 149.0 to the Release channel on March 24, 2026, delivering a significant update heavily focused on user privacy and security hardening.

The standout addition in this release is a free built-in VPN offering 50 GB of protected data per month. Alongside this major privacy upgrade, the new browser version brings critical security patches, aggressive blocking of malicious site notifications, and under-the-hood developer features designed to improve web safety.

Built-In VPN Enhances Privacy on the Go

The most significant change in Firefox 149.0 is the introduction of a native, free VPN service directly integrated into the browser.

Once users sign in and activate the feature, Firefox securely routes their web traffic through an encrypted proxy server.

This effectively hides the user’s IP address and physical location, significantly reducing tracking capabilities by internet service providers and third-party trackers.

With a 50 GB monthly data allowance, the tool is perfectly suited for protecting users on unsecured public Wi-Fi networks or during sensitive research sessions, such as banking or health inquiries.

The new release includes the following features:

• Free Built-In VPN: Provides 50 GB of protected data every month by routing traffic through a secure proxy to hide your location and IP address.
• Split View: Allows you to view two web pages side-by-side in a single window to compare information and streamline research easily.
• Automated Security Blocks: Automatically blocks notifications and permanently revokes permissions for any website flagged as malicious by SafeBrowsing.
• Tab Notes (Firefox Labs): An experimental feature that lets you attach personal reminders and notes directly to specific web pages.
• Faster PDFs: New hardware acceleration ensures PDFs load up to 3x faster.
• Unified TrustPanel: Merges privacy and security menus into one address bar panel to quickly check a page’s connection and tracking status.
• On-Device Translation: Adds support for Bosnian, Norwegian Bokmål, Serbian, and Thai without sending data to the cloud.
• Native Share Button: A new Share button in the toolbar makes it easy to share tabs using built-in Windows or macOS system options.
• Expanded Address Autofill: Address Autofill has been enabled for users in Australia, India, Italy, Poland, and Austria.

Users also have the granular control to toggle the VPN on or off for specific websites.

Mozilla is using a progressive rollout strategy for this tool, meaning it is currently launching for users in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, before expanding globally to catch bugs early and improve overall behavior.

Beyond the VPN, Mozilla has significantly strengthened its defenses against emerging web threats.

Firefox 149.0 now automatically blocks notifications and permanently revokes permissions for any website flagged as malicious by SafeBrowsing.

This effectively stops unsafe sites from sending background spam or phishing alerts without requiring user intervention. To make security auditing easier for everyday users, Mozilla introduced the new TrustPanel.

Accessible directly from the address bar, the TrustPanel merges previous privacy and security menus into a single, unified dashboard.

This allows users to quickly verify whether their connection is secure and check which tracking elements are blocked on the current page.

Under the hood, Mozilla engineers have implemented strict defense-in-depth measures by tightening the execution requirements for JavaScript files loaded within the browser’s parent process.

Productivity Tools and Developer Upgrades

Firefox 149.0 does not just focus on security; it completely revamps the user workflow.

A new Split View feature that lets you view two web pages side-by-side in a single window heavily streamlines research and comparison tasks.

Additionally, users will notice that PDF files load significantly faster thanks to the newly added hardware acceleration.

Users can also try the experimental Tab notes feature in Firefox Labs to attach personal reminders directly to specific web pages.

Browsing efficiency has been expanded globally with new on-device translation support for Bosnian, Norwegian Bokmål, Serbian, and Thai.

Users can now easily add a Share button to the toolbar for quick sharing, and Address Autofill has been enabled for users in Australia, India, Italy, Poland, and Austria.

For developers, the release activates the new Reporting API, providing a standardized mechanism to monitor Content Security Policy (CSP) violations.

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