If you want to stay private online or beat Internet censorship, should you use a VPN, Tor or both? Keep reading for a comparison of VPN services and Tor.
VPNs and Tor are different types of services. But their feature sets overlap in certain areas. They can both be useful for circumventing censorship and for increasing privacy.
The following tables compares the privacy, anonymity and anti-censorship features of VPNs and Tor.
|
VPN |
Tor |
|
|
Provides access to censored websites |
Yes (if connected to servers in uncensored countries) |
Yes |
|
Encrypts traffic |
Yes |
No (traffic can be sniffed after leaving the exit node) |
|
Hides real IP address |
Yes (but possibly subject to DNS leaks) |
Yes (but only in Tor browser or other torified apps; also, some browser plugins can leak a real IP) |
|
Protects traffic inside Web browser |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Protects traffic outside browser |
Yes (in most cases) |
No (in most cases) |
|
Supports torrents |
Yes |
Theoretically yes, but not recommended |
|
Reduces bandwidth |
Usually not |
Usually |
|
Costs money |
Yes (for decent service) |
No |
|
Easy to install |
Yes (with most providers) |
Yes (if using Tor browser) |
|
Can be blocked |
Yes |
Yes |
