Firefox Premium Version to Launch by the End of This Year

In an interview with the German publication T3N, Mozilla Corporation CEO Chris Beard announced that a paid subscription service for Firefox is planned to launch later this year. Users of this premium service will have access to the standard Firefox browser, as well as a range of additional features. Testing of the premium version is scheduled for the fall of this year.

The exact features that will be exclusive to paid users have not yet been finalized, but Beard mentioned that they will likely include a VPN and a secure data storage space. He emphasized that the current features of Firefox will remain free, and there are no plans to move any existing free features to the premium tier.

It’s worth noting that Mozilla began testing a premium VPN service last year, in partnership with ProtonVPN.

Beard explained to journalists that Mozilla currently has three main sources of revenue, and the company would like to change the balance among them. At present, about 90% of Mozilla’s income comes from partnerships with search engines, primarily Google. In this context, subscription-based premium features could become a convenient and beneficial way to monetize Firefox, helping the developers become less dependent on search engine deals.